


Deaccessioning

by Clockworkcreation, simpleEnthusiast



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Gen, OR ANYONE ELSE - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, THE SPINE IS NOT GONNA HOOK UP WITH THE LADY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-29 19:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 49,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15079667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clockworkcreation/pseuds/Clockworkcreation, https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpleEnthusiast/pseuds/simpleEnthusiast
Summary: The first, proper, sequel to "New to the Collection"A strange woman shows up to the band's show, bearing an unusual gift.  A gift that The Spine was sure he'd never see again.  But there's definitely more to this woman than meets the eye.Updates biweekly on Mondays and Fridays





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Deaccession: verb - To officially remove (an item) from the listed holdings of a library, museum, art gallery, or collection

It’d taken three days for the water to be drained from the grounds of Thornwood Castle. Most of the corpses had been removed from the site, and what few creatures that had remained had been rounded up and either removed or destroyed depending on how violent they'd been. 

Clean up afterward had taken another three days, but they'd still not made it to the main rooms of the house. Perhaps they’d been too afraid that monsters may still be lurking about. 

The place was quiet and still. 

And none of the guards were expecting another sentient being to be hiding in the stone fortress.

A tall, muscular woman quietly picked her way through the rubble of the grand ballroom, wrinkling her nose at her captor's long desiccated corpse and her former mark's burned away face. She scanned the room with her cybernetic eye, noting two heat signatures at the door to the terrace.

Two guards.

That was all this particular nation-state's government had seen fit to ensure nothing else escaped and that no one made their way back into Thornwood.

She shook her head, turning instead to scan the room for anything useful. One of the cage-boxes was still open to the room, a pile of hay and an overturned bucket indicating that this box's occupants were the ones she'd seen on the security footage.

She'd wiped the files from the mainframe after downloading them to her internal hard drive. It was the least she could do to repay her unintended saviors from their rather militant government. It had been so long since she could freely move around and choose her own direction to go.

Her gaze fell on two strangely shaped wooden pieces, held together only by its metal strings. She made a quick cross-reference of her cultural knowledge and language databases as she kneeled by them, tracing over the black lacquered wood with her organic hand.

_[Possible item identification found: guitar - a stringed musical instrument used by multiple subcultures of Solterra. Instrument is played by plucking the strings with the fingers of one hand or with a small, semi-triangular pick. The opposite hand changes the pitch of the strings by pressing down at certain varying locations on the neck of the instrument to change vibration frequency. Match probability: 87%.]_

She hummed to herself as she cross-referenced the item with still images taken from the security footage. The pieces seemed to match the instrument with which her unintended saviors had been acquired.

She glanced around her, ensuring that the guards' heat signatures hadn't moved, and gently fit the two pieces of the guitar back together, imitating the images she had stored. That looked right.

With a confident nod, she stood, slinking back to the interior corridors of the Castle and making for her former captor's computer hub, pulling her hooded medic's cloak tighter around her shoulders. "Must Solterra be so cold?" She mumbled as she made her way down the twisting staircases.

Most of the building's power was out, but the computer hub and a few other rooms ran on an emergency power supply.

The ambient blue light of the computer hub did very little to comfort her as she stepped through the doorway. It was a shame Lekidan aesthetics were very blue. She doubted she'd feel comfortable at home for a long time.

If she ever _got_ home.

 

She quickly interfaced with this planet's global database, or "internet" as they called it and made some queries, searching for matches to the still images and music audio she'd pulled from the security footage.

It took her a little less than 15 minutes to parse out who her saviors were.

She made note of the names and location’s addresses they'd be at and returned her gaze to the broken guitar beside her. A few more searches found her the material and knowledge she needed.

Repairing the guitar would be simple.

Getting it back to the automaton it belonged to? That would be difficult.

* * *

_Eight months later._

 

David made a few last minute tweaks to The Spine's torque bolts and servos before closing his maintenance panel and patting his shoulder. "Alright. You're all set."

The Spine turned around and smiled, sliding his fins out preemptively as he glanced to Zero and Rabbit preparing to head on stage. "Thank you, David."

"Don't mention it." The technician smiled, fidgeting with the band of fabric that secured his gelpack to his arm. He wanted to join Bunny and Bryan in the audience, but the concert was outdoors and poorly shaded, so he was stuck backstage next to a portable fan and a cooler of water.

The Spine noted his technician's sudden downcast look and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry you can't see us, but you should be able to hear us with no problem."

"I know. I just…" David sighed before shaking his head. "It's not your fault, so don’t get yourself worked up. You're on in, like, 5 minutes."

"6.4 minutes, actually." The Spine teased, allowing his trademark smirk to form on his faceplate.

David snorted at the correction. "Close enough. Besides, someone's got to keep an eye on things back here anyway. Make sure nothing gets moved or anything like that."

The Spine grew serious again. "Will you be alright while we are signing autographs?"

David nodded. "Yeah. I got my Switch. I'll just play Skyrim or something." He held up the portable-ish gaming system. He never knew what The Spine had told Peter VI, but when it became clear that David, Bunny, and occasionally Bryan would be attending all shows, the Walter descendant had bought some upgrades for the Manor and had given each of the human technicians a chance to pick some sort of video game or portable console. David had gotten the Switch on the condition that he'd share with the other residents.

He'd happily agreed. In fact on their nights off, he, Bunny, and Bryan could often be found in Living Room 3, switching from one device to another as they all played. It was funny how they all got along so well.

Well, funny if you didn’t understand that it took a very special type of person to be a Walter Worker and even more so for a Blue Matter Master.

The Spine looked up as Bebop started his spiel to signal the beginning of the show and he quickly moved to join his siblings; he was always the first one on stage. Just before his cue, he glanced back to see David slumped in the chair by the fan and cooler, still solemn. The Spine core fluttered just a little but then he put on his show face while the audience screamed their names and he stepped out into the spotlights.

David’s bad mood vanished when he heard the robots start to play. Sure, they played all the time at the manor but there was something magical about a stage and an audience and Steve’s sound work. By the time they started singing _Me and My Baby,_ David found himself tapping his foot along in his seat and singing quietly. He mimed the chords as The Spine sang; he had just started learning this song.

At the end of _Brass Goggles,_ the fans were screaming and begging for more as the robots came past the curtain. David had opened bottles of water, waiting for all three of them.

“Thanks David.” Zero took the held out water, giving the human a bright smile.

“You kn-kn-know a girl could g-g-get used to being spoiled like this.” Rabbit said, taking another offered bottle. She gave David a playful wink as she chugged the water bottle. They didn’t have very long to relax however, they had an autograph line to get to.

The Spine put his guitar in the stand before coming over. David gave him a smile and held out the water. “Thank you.” The Spine said. He drank half before looking at his technician. His eyes were still bright, skin dry, and coloration normal. And he was smiling. The Spine found himself smiling as well. Music was magic as far as the automaton was concerned. It had such an effect on humans. It could make them happy, even in the seemingly darkest of times.

“The set was really good. I’m glad I could hear it.” David said, honestly. “Even if I couldn’t see it.”

The Spine opened his mouth, words of comfort about to fall from his lips when Rabbit shouted. “C’mon Spine! We got a l-l-long line awaiting!”

David glanced over at Rabbit then back to his friend before giving a playful bow and bright smile. “You better go. Your public awaits.” David teased.

The Spine chuckled and patted David’s shoulder, affectionately, before moving his metal hand down to the fabric covered gelpack, checking it. It was still cold. Good. “We’ll talk later.”

David nodded as The Spine turned to walk towards the stage exit. David sat back down and pulled out his Switch, settling in to take out some virtual bandits while the robots catered to their fans for a while.

* * *

 

The woman glanced at the sea of people that had gathered for the automatons’ performance. Many of them had painted their faces to look as much like the robots as they could manage, and many others wore similar paints of their own so called ‘fan-bots’.

It had taken a very long time to make her way down to the region designated “California” from the prison she’d been kept in for so long. Far longer than she would’ve liked, but she’d had no choice but to travel at night and avoid the larger population centers. Cybernetics here were still in their infancy, and she couldn’t risk her implants being seen.

Until she got here, at least. The automaton’s band was performing at this outdoor festival, called a “Convention Weekend,” and costumes ranging from the very simple to the very elaborate were going to be the norm. She made a quick review of her gathered data and nodded to herself before pulling her hood back up. Hopefully her augmentations and uniform would pass as one of these “cosplays” as the humans called them, but she’d rather not take any chances.

She made her way to the back of the seating area, running a quick scan of the gathered crowd. A few people carried false weapons, made of foam or plastics, as portions of their costumes, and a few others had small, concealed containers of a chemical irritant in their bags, but otherwise the crowd was unarmed.

She set the guitar bag on the ground beside her as she took a seat on the bench at the back of the theater, quietly running a scan of the mechanical equipment that covered a good portion of the stage and the wires that spilled out over the floor and connected to a control board near her. Her scans returned that they were audio equipment only, and posed minimal threat.

More and more people filtered into seating area, filling up the benches closest to the stage and moving back. With a tic of her head, she deactivated the lights on her facial implant. The less conspicuous she was, the better.

It wasn’t until the seating area was nearly full that someone noticed her.

“Oh my GOSH, you’re costume is so cool! How did you get that stick to your face?” Two adolescents approached her, one painted like the copper automaton, and the other like the silver one, whose guitar was kept safely in the bag at her feet.

The woman swallowed, offering a small smile. “It’s a…prosthetic.” She answered, pulling her hood further forward to attempt to hide it.

“Why’re you covering it up? That’s such a good makeup job!” The teenager painted like the copper robot spoke next.

The teenager painted like the silver robot frowned. “What type of accent is that? You foreign or something?”

“Jesus, Tiffany, be nice.” The copper-painted teenager scolded and waved her hand dismissively. “Can we take a picture with you?”

The woman swallowed. “I…do not like having my picture taken.”

The silver painted teenager rolled their eyes and walked away, muttering to themselves about “stupid Russians”

The other teenager sighed and patted the woman’s arm. “Sorry about her. I’ll talk to her, get her to apologize.”

“That is not necessary. But thank you.” She replied, bowing her head slightly.

“You sure?”

“I am. Please, rejoin your friend.”

“Alright. But really, though, you’re makeup is really awesome! You shouldn’t hide it under your hood.” The teenager smiled as she took off after her companion, just as the AI system for the automatons signaled the beginning of the show.

The woman watched the show with divided attention. Once the majority of the crowd was focused on the robots, she ran an in-depth scan of the silver automaton. Everything about him matched the images she had from Thornwood Castle. There was no sign of the human who’d been captive alongside him, which probably meant the worst. The rest of the show, she devoted to searching for a potential entry point to the setup area, where she could slip in, leave the guitar and ‘thank you’ note she’d written, and slip back out again.

It was nearly the end of the show when she finally had a solid plan of action. She clapped gently at the end of the show, glad that the gloves helped muffle the metal in her hand, then watched as the majority of the crowed moved, _en masse,_ to a line near a table where the automatons and their human performers were seated and signing pictures and artwork.

She used the mild chaos to her advantage, skirting around the edge of the crowd with the guitar bag and making her way to the stage, slipping under the divider when no one was looking.

The backstage area connected to a building, so it was dark enough for her to need to reactivate the light in her cybernetic eye as she made her way to the stage. Then, just as she was about to enter:

_[Alert: Lifesign detected in target area – one human male]_

She paused, pressing herself as much as she could into a corner, silently berating herself for not checking for heat signatures before she was too far into her plan to change it.

Deactivating the light once more, she leaned around the corner, attempting to gauge whether or not this human would pose a threat.

The human was seated near a cooling apparatus and a square container filled with ice, and seemed to be absorbed in his portable tablet device. He was facing mostly away from her position, but the rest of the musical instruments were in front of him, aside from the copper robot’s oddly shaped black and white instrument.

If she was careful, she could simply lay the guitar case by that instrument and slip away.

She stepped forward, keeping the guitar bag as still as possible to avoid it making noise when the worst possible thing happened:

 _Creeeeeeeeeeeeak!_ The wooden floor beneath her groaned under her weight and she froze.

 

David looked up from his game. A woman, a stranger, was only a few feet from him, on the stage side of the back stage. She wore long sleeves and dark gray pants, odd for the hot weather, and a thick, light gray cloak of some sort. Her hair was cropped short and dark brown, her skin pale but her face, the mechanical pieces on her face indicated she was a fan.

David stood up. “I'm sorry, miss, but fans are not allowed in this back stage area.” He said politely, moving closer to her.

Her eyes widened in recognition. This was him, the human male who had been caged with the silver automation. He was alive after all!

She backed away slightly, pulling at her hood to keep it from exposing her implants any further.

David stepped even closer and frowned. “Miss? Are you alright?”

She looked into his eyes and he knew....he knew she wasn't just a fan. He knew real cybernetics when he saw them. David’s mind flashed to the last time someone unwelcome came back stage. His eyes widened in fear as panic set in.

David screamed.

The woman darted forward, setting the guitar bag down next to the copper robot’s instrument and abandoning any hope of holding her hood in place. “I mean you no harm, I swear.” She spoke, holding out her hands in what she hoped was a gesture of peace.

David balked at her accent, memories burning in his mind as he scrambling backwards, nearly tripping over the chair. “SPINE!” he screamed as loud as he could before fear stole his voice.

* * *

“I looooove your music sooooo much!” The girl in front of The Spine crooned with a fandom thirst that The Spine was used to. “It just in my soul….”

The Spine handed back the picture he had just autographed. “I am so glad you like it.” He spoke in his deep baritone which made the fan hold back a swoon. He had hoped that would be enough to get her to move on to Rabbit. This line was taking much too long.

His hope was dashed as she continued. “I’ve been writing this song that’s perfect for you.” As she dug around in her sticker covered back pack, The Spine resisted the urge to roll his optics. He had enough fan songs professing love for the past fifty years to fill several books. The girl continued, “It’s about a robot that falls in love with a human, but the human thinks she’s broken and….”

A scream from the back stage got his attention. While the fans didn't seem to hear it over the chatter his audioreceptors picked up the sound easily. That was David! The Spine was on his feet in an instant.

Without even uttering an ‘excuse me’, he moved quickly away from the table and ran towards the side stage door.

The confused girl looked at an equally confused Rabbit and Zero. “Was it something I said?”

* * *

David’s initial scream had been quickly followed by another scream calling for The Spine. The Spine’s tesla coil was already starting to warm up under his arm paneling. David’s gelpack had been cold, so the odds that he was simply having a waking nightmare were less than 10%. Something else had made his human scream. Fear gripped at The Spine’s core _– please makers, don't let David be hurt_ – Spine begged silently as he ran as fast as he could.

He rounded the corner too quickly, nearly crashing into Michael and Steve. “What’s going on?” Steve asked, while Michael’s eyes widened at the electric sound coming from The Spine’s arm.

“David,” the automaton said as he ran past the two humans, making for the backstage. Michael and Steve shared a look before turning and following him.

The Spine pushed the stage curtains aside as he finally made it backstage, and he felt his core drop.

There was David, standing a few feet away from his chair. His body was trembling and he had dropped his Switch, breaking part of the plastic. A woman with false grey cybernetic implants covered a good portion of the right half of her face, with pale blue accent lights. She stood in front of his technician, her arms outstretched, palms up. The Spine tilted his head. Something was not right. The Spine gave a quick ping to the local area network and she glanced over to him. So the cybernetics weren’t a costume. They were real…

From this angle, he could not tell if she was trying to kidnap David or was trying to show him she meant no harm. The Spine decided not to risk it as he fully engaged his arm Tesla coil for the first time in almost thirty years. It sparked for a moment from disuse before coming fully online. The electricity crackled and made the air smell slightly of ozone.

“Get Away From Him!” The Spine growled, aiming his weapon but not firing. David was still too close and The Spine wouldn’t risk a bolt of electricity hitting his technician. He quickly texted Rabbit and Zero about the situation. He hoped this show of force would be enough to make this cyber-human back off.

If anything happened to David, The Spine would never forgive himself.

Steve rounded the stage form the other side, having outpaced Michael. A woman was between him, David, and The Spine. David was shaking like a leaf in a summer storm. The technician’s legs were about to give out. He glanced at The Spine and gave a quick nod. The Spine returned it the gesture almost imperceptibly.

“HEY!” Steve shouted.

The woman turned her head, distracted by Steve’s shout. It was all The Spine needed.  It took only two steps for The Spine to grab David with his unweaponized hand and pull the human behind him to safety.  The Spine did his best to ignore the sound of David falling roughly to the floor as Steve dove to the ground behind the curtain.

The Spine fired his Tesla coil. A direct hit to the woman’s chest made her cry out as electricity arced over across her facial implants and down her right arm.  Her joints gave out and she dropped to her knees, then shuddered and collapsed to the ground, silent and still.

Rabbit rushed in a moment later, her jaw already disengaged for her flame thrower. The Spine messaged her and Rabbit stood over the still form as The Spine turned his attention to David. “Are you hurt?”

David rubbed at his backside having landed hard on his butt. “I’m okay. Is she…?”

The Spine pinged the network again before shaking his head. No, she was not dead. Another thought struck him. “Steve! Are you alright?” The Spine called towards the curtain, no reply. “Steve, answer me!”

The curtain moved. “Yeah, I’m fine.” Steve said, even though he was holding his shoulder, a red abrasion already forming on his exposed skin from where he slid upon it to get out of the way.

“David!” Bunny shouted, hurrying to her brother and helping him stand. “Are you okay?”

“I’m good, thanks to The Spine.” David assured with a shy smile, looking towards his silver protector.  Bryan, Michael and Zero were right behind her, having left the Walter Workers to deal with the fans that still wanted autographs.

“But, who is that?” Bryan asked, looking at the lady on the floor.

Michael moved closer to the form at Rabbit’s nod. She had him covered. In one fluid motion Michael removed the cape and surveyed her with engineer eyes.  “Not human…that’s for sure.”

“She spoke…” David voice was shaky and he swallowed a lump in his throat before continuing. “She spoke like…that…man.”

The Spine narrowed his photo receptors at David’s attacker.  Du Franks was dead. Was this some kind of revenge attack? It had to be. Why else target David?

Zero’s voice drew The Spine from his thoughts. “Uh, The Spine? When did you get another guitar?” Zero pointed to the black bag sitting next to Rabbit’s keytar.

“I didn’t, Zero.” The Spine looked at the case. “Everyone back away. It could be a weapon or bomb.”

The humans did as told. Zero standing in front of them as a shield while Rabbit and Spine moved slowly to open the bag.  “On three, Rabbit….” The Spine said. “One…Two…Three.” At his signal they opened the case. The dim stage lights hit black, lacquered wood, making it shine.

Rabbit covered her mouth slightly. “It can’t be.” She mumbled her surprise into her hands as The Spine slowly and with great care pulled out his famous black guitar.

The same one David had broken in Du Frank’s cell.

“Was she…returning it?” Michael pondered.

“David?” The Spine asked, turning his attention towards the technician.

David blushed and looked at his feet. “She might have been….I…I panicked…because the last time someone came back stage…and the implants….and when she spoke….” David began to cry and Bunny pulled him into her arms mumbling words of comfort as he sob into her neck.

Steve frowned. “So what do we do with her?”

Rabbit scooped the unconscious humanoid into her arms. “We t-t-take her home of c-c-course. Peter will know w-w-what to do.”


	2. Chapter 2

The Spine paced outside the locked infirmary.  Peter VI and Michael Reed had been locked inside for several hours now, trying to revive the woman from the convention.

Rabbit had carried her limp body back to their van and while Michael had assured them all that she was still breathing, it did nothing to ease The Spine’s worry.

David leaned against the wall, watching his friend.  “I’m sure she’s fine, Spine. Peter and Michael, they’ll fix her up...”

The Spine let out a sigh, steam escaping from his lips. “Electricity was arcing all over her, David.  I may not have killed her, but I’m certain she’ll be hurt.”

David looked at the floor. “You were trying to protect me.”

“From a woman who was just trying to return my guitar.” The Spine countered.

“You didn’t know that. We couldn't have known that. It was….it was my fault Spine...please don’t blame yourself. If I hadn’t screamed...if I hadn’t panicked...” David lapsed into silence, shaking slightly. It had all been his fault and now The Spine was suffering because David couldn’t get over his issues created from being kidnapped. David loathed himself at this moment.

The Spine flushed steam from his back and looked at his human friend. David blaming himself would not do. He had reacted naturally given what had happened before. The Spine crossed over to where David stood and opened his arms. Without a word David slid into the loving, reassuring, calming hug The Spine offered. Though The Spine was racked with guilt, David had a point. He would do anything to protect his technician.

And David still needed him and probably would need The Spine for the rest of his life.

The Spine could live with that. David had become so important to him. He wouldn’t be able to bare it if something happened to the human; especially if that something was something that The Spine could have prevented. At the thought of losing David, he felt as though his core would break into pieces. He continued to hold the human, humming quietly until his audio receptors picked up the door being unlocked.

Peter stepped out into the hallway, running his hand through his messy hair.  Michael wasn’t far behind.  Both of them looked exhausted.  

The Spine vented a cloud of steam from his back as he turned to face his family.  “Is she--?”

“She’ll be okay, Spine. Her injuries were minor.”  Peter spoke, rolling his shoulders.  “Her cybernetics are...incredibly advanced.  From what I can tell, they channeled most of the electricity to the surface metal.”  

“Probably explains all that arcing we saw.”  Michael added.

David cleared his throat, swallowing down his emotions, before patting The Spine’s shoulder as the automaton visibly relaxed.  “See?  Told you.”

The Spine offered a weak smile to his technician, glad that the humans couldn’t link with the Wi-Fi in the same manner the robots could.  Rabbit had been flooding him with sympathy and comfort ever since they’d gotten home. So much so, that The Spine couldn’t take it without his emotional programming overloading.  He’d been off the Wi-Fi for most of the day.

Peter sighed.  “There’s still the matter of security.  I know she returned your old guitar, but...there’s no cybernetics like that on this planet.  Not even in this manor.” His voice held an awe for something so advanced.

“Strangely enough, the rest of her seemed human.”  Michael mumbled.  “Bone structure, nerve pathways, musculature...everything.”

Peter waved his hand.  “Another question to add to the list that we’ll need to ask her when she wakes up.”

For a moment the little group was silence before Michael quietly coughed drawing attention.  “So, what are we gonna do with her?  There’s...not many places with doors in the manor that we can keep her secure in. You know, just in case...” Michael did not expect that this was some sort of “long con” but after years of being around Steve, some of his distrust for strangers wore off onto the head engineer.   

Peter tilted his head and rubbed at his chin in thought.  “I don’t know.  The only true places we have that are secure are the Hall of Wires, which is absolutely out of the question, and…” He paused, glancing between the three of them.. “The Vault.”

* * *

_Several hours later_

The woman woke with a pained groan, bringing her organic hand up to press against her forehead.  She swore in her native tongue as she sat up.  “ _That weapon packs a punch._ ”  She ran a quick diagnostic on her cybernetic systems, frowning as she determined the damage to her systems.  

Her primary processors, the ones that stored memories and regulated her life-functions had been heavily shielded from the attack, protected by her safeguards, but most of the medical tools in her arm had been overloaded and disabled.  Only basic movement in her arm and basic visual and auditory processing remained in her facial implants.  She swore again. This was going to take _weeks_ to fix on this backwards little planet.

With a sigh, she swung her legs over the cot she was laying on and took in her surroundings.   She was in some sort of circular, industrial room, with a large, heavy door sporting a vaguely keyhole shaped window.  A network of pipes and circuitry lined the walls, draped in cobwebs.  She went to run a basic scan of the room, only for an error code to pop into her vision.  She sighed.  “ _Back to being blind_.”  She mumbled, looking around once more.  

She was laying on an out of place, military-style cot, shoved into the back of the room.  A small table nearby had a pile of fabric on its surface, along with a simple electric lantern, offering the only real light in the room.

Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the fabric as being her uniform and she glanced down at herself.  A crude medical gown covered her, and she breathed a sigh of relief.  At least she’d been given that courtesy.

She stood and dressed, waiting to take off the medical smock until she’d put her shirt and trousers on.  Her hooded cloak had been laid just off to the side, with a note resting on top of it. 

            _Here is your clothing.  We only undressed you to ascertain any damage to you or your cybernetic systems._

_~ P. A. Walter VI_

She arched her organic eyebrow and set the note aside, wrapping the cloak around her shoulders, but leaving the hood down.  There was no point in hiding her implants any more.  Taking the lantern in hand, she moved to the door, searching for a handle or some other means of opening it.  Her stomach dropped when she realized that there was none.

She was trapped.  
Again.

She sucked in a shuddering breath and stepped back to sit down on the cot.  There was no point in fighting back, not this time.  Her stomach growled and she brought her knees up to her chest, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders.

Out of one prison, into another.

~~~

“David? David…?”

A voice called softly and David felt his eyes began to blink open. The green photo optics that greeted him in the dark of his bed room made a sleepy smile slip onto David’s face.

“Spine?” He yawned, “What time is it?” The human asked, sitting up in his bed and stretched his arms over his head.

“It is 3:43am.” The Spine replied, watching David closely.

“Is anything wrong?” David asked as he moved the covers back and swung his legs off the bed, his bare feet hitting the cool floor. The Spine would not have awoken him unless something important was happening. He “valued the humans rest” too much to do that.

“She’s awake.” The Spine replied. After David had gone to sleep, The Spine had gone down to the vault and remained outside the door listening for movement. When he heard it, he came straight to David.

The human was already putting on his pants. The Spine opened the mini fridge in David’s room and removed a fresh gel pack. David was the only technician who had a mini fridge but the need to keep cold gel packs within arm’s reach at night was a necessity.

David fumbled with the fabric band on his arm as he yawned again. “Here. Let me.” The Spine said, gently taking David’s arm and changing out the gel pack. Humans had such trouble getting started again after “sleepy time,” as Rabbit called it.

A few minutes later found the duo walking down the stairs to the basement and the vault. “Are you sure this is okay?” David asked, getting second thoughts. He wanted to apologize to this woman, but what if she did mean harm?

The Spine nodded in the dark as they reached the vault door. “It will be alright. Stand back.” The Spine said, reaching the keypad and putting in the code of ‘1891.’ The internal bolts began to move. Before the door opened, The Spine glanced back at David who was a few feet behind him. “I will protect you.”

The door opened and The Spine stood in the frame of it, for the moment blocking David from view.  As he took in the sight before him, guilt washed over his core anew. She looked...so defeated. “I…” The Spine started, then cleared his throat. “Hello.” he said, as friendly as he could with a slight nod of the head, like a very small bow.

The woman looked up, standing as she realized she was being addressed.  “Hello.”  She answered, tugging at the hem of her shirt.  “My internal chronometer says it is still night.  Is there a problem?”

The Spine shook his head.  “No. I…” He paused, glancing back to David.  “We wanted to make sure you were alright. You took a direct hit from my Tesla coil.”

The woman shrugged. “While a good portion of my non-essential systems are inoperable, all of my life-sustaining functions are working.  There are safeguards in place in the event of an attack.”

The Spine flinched.  “I’m sorry.  I...I didn’t realize I’d caused that much damage.”

She did not miss the robot’s slight discomfort. “You were protecting your charge.  The damage is repairable.  It will take time, but it can be fixed.” She assured the silver automaton.

David stepped forward a tiny bit, still letting The Spine shield most of him.  “What about the rest of you?  Your not-robot parts?  Are you hurt?”

“Aside from a headache and some muscle stiffness, I’m quite well.” She paused, rolling her organic shoulder.  “The headache has already started to decrease, and the stiffness will abate after some movement.”  She took a moment to look over her...captors seemed the wrong word.  They didn’t seem malicious in their intentions, especially seeing as they’d provided her with proper amenities rather than just a pile of hay.

A thought struck David and he moved ever so slightly closer to the vault door, but never out from behind The Spine. Michael had said all of her systems were basically human and she had been unconscious for hours. “Are...are you hungry?” He asked, feeling suddenly quite shy.

She blinked at the human in surprise before answering. “Yes, I am. But, it can wait.”

The Spine and David looked at each other before the automaton spoke. “We...can’t let you out right now, but we could bring you something to eat.”

David gave her a small smile. “Not to brag, but I am a pretty decent cook. What would you like?

She was surprised again, Du Franks had always made her work for her food. “I am not...picky.” She replied after a moment. It was the truth, as long as it was edible, even if it tasted terrible, she could digest it and live off it.

David gave a nod. “Okay, I’ll come up with something.” He turned but then looked back. The Spine gave a nod of understanding. David was hesitant to leave him alone with this girl.

“We will be right back.” The silver automaton promised as the door slowly swung shut, locking once more.

She sat down upon on the cot again, wondering if her...hosts...would be true to their word. She didn’t want to complain but she was quite famished. Food had been hard to come by in her slow travels away from the Du Franks estate to where she was now...San Diego. She became lost in her memories and before she knew it, the door lock was rotating open once more. She checked her internal chronometer. Twenty two minutes had elapsed. She stood as the door fully opened.

Again, the silver automaton was in the main way of the doorway and behind him was the human male, holding a covered metal tray slightly awkwardly.  The robot looked at her for a moment before taking the tray from his charge. “May we come in?” he asked, still not passing the door frame.

She nodded and moved slightly towards the back wall. The Spine entered with the tray and moved towards the table with the lantern, the only stable surface to put it down on. The human stayed in the doorway, his feet just on the inner side of the door.

The robot removed the lid and for the third time in the past hour she felt surprised. On the tray was surprising array and amount of food. Though there were a few items she did not recognize, she could identify what had been called ‘scrambled eggs’, ‘bacon.’ and ‘toast.’ There was also a diced up fruit of some kind and two kinds of drinks. The Spine backed away from her, back towards David. He did not want her to feel...crowded.

She sat on the edge of the cot, surveying the tray as her mouth watered at the aroma.  “This is… very kind, thank you.”

David shrugged.  “I wasn’t sure what you liked, or how hungry you were, so I brought you a bit of everything.  Don’t worry if you can’t finish it all, we can always put it in the fridge for later.”

Her language database struggled to process the term ‘fridge’, especially with the damage to her systems, but she chose not to say anything, instead tearing a piece of the ‘toast’ in two and nibbling at it.

She had to fight back the urge to groan in frustration that she realized that her poison sensors were offline as well.  She’d have no choice but to hope that these people had no interest in killing her.

The Spine glanced over to David and offered a small smile, staying in front of him, just in case, but it dropped when she set down the toast.  “Is something wrong?”

She swallowed.  “It’s...nothing. Thank you for the meal.”  She deflected, looking away from them. 

The Spine frowned.  “Are you unable to eat this? We can find you something more palatable…”

“It’s not that.  I can eat just about anything, provided it’s not--” She stopped short, practically biting her tongue before she gave too much away.  She’d been alone too long.

David blinked, could it be that she...she was worried they wanted to hurt her? “Would it...would it help if I ate some?”

The Spine gave David a strange look, unsure what David was getting at.

The woman turned back towards them, quirking an eyebrow. If he was offering to eat from her serving… “That will not be necessary…” She paused, realizing that she’d never actually heard his name.  All she had was Du Franks’ collection files, which had the two of them listed as simply ‘Collectible 2403 and technician.’  She quickly wracked her database for the proper honorific, frustrated at its slow response time. “...sir? I’ll eat.”  

David snorted.  “I’m just David. You don’t need to be so formal.”

Brilliant, she’d made another error.  “My apologies… David.” 

David shifted on his feet as she started eating again, glancing up to The Spine.  “So...what’s your name?”

She paused, swallowing her bite of toast before tugging her cloak tighter around her shoulders.  “I am Carlianta-eskara.  But I am called ‘Carley’ to streamline communication.  If I remember correctly, it is a common enough Solterran--” she sighed, shaking her head.  “Apologies, _human_ name.”

David nodded. “It’s a normal human name, yes. Oh, and this is The Spine.” David introduced the silver automaton by his side.

Carley logged the information as she ate a few more bites. Once the plate was half empty it seemed the best time to ask, after all she needed to know. “Am I your prisoner?”

David and The Spine exchanged a glance. “No, I mean, not really….I mean. Spine, help me out here?” David said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The Spine opened his mouth to speak when a new voice called out into the dim basement. “What are you two doing!?”

All three turned to look as a new person entered the light. He was tall, muscular, and with a strange hairstyle.

“Steve! We were just…” David started, but hushed when sharp eyes turned his way.

“You should still be sleeping and this door should still be closed and locked.” Steve snapped.

David dropped his gaze to the floor. They shouldn’t have come down here. They should have told Peter or Micheal she was awake.

Steve’s eyes raked over the woman, sizing her up as if she’d attack him at any moment. She didn’t care for his look, and suppressed a sigh of relief when he turned his gaze to The Spine “And you, Spine! You should know better!”

The Spine frowned, but said nothing in his defense. Steve was right. This had been a risk and Steve only wanted to protect the manor and those living here.

“I’m sorry, Miss Carley, we have to go.” The Spine spoke slowly and softly. David continued to look at the floor. “But, it won’t be forever.”

Carley felt a pang of worry for her ‘saviors.’ She could only hope that they would not be in too much trouble for showing her kindness. She sat back onto the cot, pulling the scratchy blanket around her as she watched the door slowly close and lock once more.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay in uploading. As I'm sure a lot of you figured, AO3 was down and I had no open tabs to backdoor my way in.
> 
> Enjoy chapter three!

Michael was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. Steve must have texted Michael as soon as he saw the door to the basement was open. Michael was frowning, disappointment weighing heavily on his features. David couldn’t bring himself to look Michael in the eyes. That look of disappointment was one he just couldn’t face.

“What were you two thinking?” Michael spoke in a harsh whisper, not wanting to wake the whole house.

“I just...wanted to apologize….” David answered weakly. The Spine laid a comforting hand on the shoulder of his technician.

Steve snapped. “And if this was some kind of trick? Pretending to be nicey nice? We don’t know what she can do. She could have killed you both... or worse. There _are_ worse things than death...You have absolutely _no idea_ of the things that people could do to you.  You haven’t lived on the street, you don’t have those instincts built, so when we tell you not to do something, it’s for your own safety!”

David clenched his jaw and balled his fists at his side. Steve’s words and tone cut deep, down to his core. He wasn’t some naughty child, he was an adult.

Just as he opened his mouth to speak, The Spine stepped forward.  “That is _quite_ enough, Sound Engineer Negrete.” The Spine kept his voice low and steady, and the use of Steve’s title startled the man into silence. “I will remind you, that _you_ were not trapped in Thornewood Castle.   _You_ do not know what he’s been through. What _either_ of us have been through.”

Michael moved to place a hand on Steve’s shoulder, but the sound engineer shrugged him off, glaring up to The Spine. They just didn’t get it. He had to make them understand. “You think you’re innocent in this, Spine?  You, of all people, should’ve known better!”  He jabbed a finger into The Spine’s chest.  “Not only were you trapped with him, you’ve been to WAR! Several times! You KNOW how much of a shitshow this world can be!”

“Steve, quiet down!” Michael hissed, grabbing Steve’s upper arm. The last thing anyone needed was for Qwerty to wake up and alert everyone in the manor.

“Get off me, Mike.” He growled, yanking his arm free from the head technician.  “You two could have gotten everyone in this manor KILLED!  Did you think about _that_ when you opened the damn door?”  
  
“Stop it!” David shouted, his body shaking.  “I get it, please just stop! I’m sorry, okay! I’m sorry...so please...”  Tears started to slip down his cheeks as The Spine narrowed his eyes at Steve, ready to defend their actions when he heard two sets of footsteps approaching.  
  
“What the HELL is going on?!”  Bunny’s voice rang out in the dim corridor as she pushed past Michael to pin Steve with a glare that could freeze lava. Steve froze, his jaw hanging open.  Anyone who managed to make Bunny swear was in for it.

Rabbit appeared right on her heels, pinging The Spine’s network to determine if he was alright. He assured his sister that he was, all while never taking his optics off of a trembling David.

“Rabbit and I were having a girl’s night, having a grand old time, only for it to come to a screeching halt because we hear screaming and then you! You, Steve! Accusing my brother of WHAT NOW?”  Bunny spat, crossing her arms across her chest. “How DARE you!  You have got some goddamn NERVE to accuse David of wanting to hurt anyone in this manor!  We’ve been here for almost three years now, and you still think that he’s that stupid!?”

Steve stammered, Bunny’s glare having pulled him back to reality, as he tried to come up with a suitable explanation, then meekly dropped his head when he realized there wasn’t one.

The Spine took a moment to quietly tell Rabbit the details before checking to see if David needed any more help.  He was shaking slightly, but not with fear, rather he was trying to hold back sobs.  “David?  Do you need to sit down?”

David sniffed and nodded. The Spine frowned at how easy it was to lead David to the table in a nearby, unused dining room, pulling out a chair for him. “Sit here, David,” The Spine said softly. It wasn’t a command, but David’s whole demeanor had changed rapidly. He was going to break down any moment. Just like when he had nightmares.

After a moment, Steve spoke. “Kid? I’m sorry I got so upset. I was just trying to look out for you, for everyone. Come on...don’t cry. Please….?” Steve’s voice was no longer laced with worried anger but with deep concern. Guilt covered his features. He’d never seen David like this, or the robots so in tune with the humans. He thought he had a musical connection with the bots but this, this was something much deeper.

David didn’t seem to hear him. His eyes were unfocused and a thin sheen of sweat had formed on his brow. “I’m sorry...it was my fault… I’m sorry…Please...I’m sorry...sorry...” he repeated in a mumble, trying to hide his face behind trembling hands.

Rabbit was quick to act. She darted into the attached kitchen and grabbed a dish towel, running it under cold water at the sink. After wringing it out, she folded it and handed it to David to hold on his face. Bunny continued to glare at Steve. The Spine stayed by David’s side and quietly addressed Michael and Steve. “This was my idea, not David’s. Please don’t be angry at him.”

Michael shook his head, his voice low and soft. “I was only worried, Spine, when Steve texted me the door that the basement was opened. I thought the worst had happened.”

The Spine nodded, David was starting to calm down, but now looked about ready to pass out with exhaustion. After 8 months of almost constant companionship, The Spine had learned to read his human very well.  Bunny was at her brother’s side. “David? You need to go lay down.” She spoke softly while touching his arm, trying to get him to focus on her.

David got to his feet and wobbled slightly. Steve frowned and looked away, his heart sinking. What had he done? He really hadn't meant to push the kid so far emotionally.

The Spine and Bunny took their places on either side of David and started for his room while Rabbit tossed the damp towel back into the sink.

Michael sighed.  “Go get some rest, Steve.   _I_ will talk to Peter about this in the morning.  Rabbit?  Will you walk with him?”

“You got it, Mr. Reed.”  Rabbit nodded as the two of them walked away, leaving Michael alone in the kitchen.

This was going to be fun to explain.

* * *

The next morning, Michael stood over the stove, making a large pile of scrambled eggs. He was tired – damn tired – but refused to show it if he could help it. So far, everyone was late to breakfast today, save for three. Chelsea and Camille were already eating some berry oatmeal with almond milk. Bryan was sitting near them, plate piled high with his second helping of bacon. Michael sighed and opened the fridge, pulling out another few pieces. He’d better make some more.

At his sighing, Chelsea and Camille exchanged a look. It was not missed by Bryan. “What? What’s wrong?” he whispered to the two Walter Workers across the table from him.

Camille opened her mouth to reply but Chelsea quickly shook her head, silencing her sister, before standing. “Thanks for breakfast, Mike.” She said, putting her dishes in the sink. Camille followed quickly after with a thanks of her own.

Bryan and Michael were alone in the kitchen, the only noise was the sound of bacon fat frying. Bryan looked at the head technician. He did seem strangely quiet and not quite himself. He was just about to say something when Steve stumbled into the little kitchen. Michael gave him a nod of welcome and Steve nodded back while grabbing a plate and helping himself to the platters already on the table.

Michael returned his gaze to the eggs and bacon, he didn’t want the food to burn but Bryan’s concerned shout of “Steve! Your hands!” made him turn around.

Steve’s knuckle were beaten bloody, clumsily wrapped and cleaned. A bit of blood still showed through the bandages. Steve shrugged, as if it was only a paper cut. “It’s nothing, kid, barely a scratch. I just overdid it on my workout routine.” He mumbled, rolling his shoulders as he started to eat.

Bryan quirked an eyebrow at Steve calling him ‘kid,’ but wasn’t sure what to make of it. He had never called him that before. He opened his mouth to voice his doubts when Michael spoke up. “Bryan, weren’t you supposed to check in with Zero at 9am for polishing?”

Bryan glanced at the clock, 8:58am. “Oh, shoot!” Bryan gobbled down the rest of his plate and got up, taking his dishes to the sink. With a quick thank you, he rushed from the kitchen.

Once he was sure Bryan was gone, Steve spoke up. “The other kids come down yet?” He asked quietly.

Michael shook his head no as he moved the cooked eggs and bacon onto the platters on the table. “But they need to. After last night….they both need to eat.”

Almost on cue, Rabbit walked into the kitchen alone and moved to the sink, drawing herself a glass of water. When her technician did not appear behind her, as was commonly the case, Michael spoke. “Rabbit? Where Bunny?”

Rabbit shrugged. “Said she w-w-wasn’t feeling too w-w-well. So I’m t-t-taking her a plate.” Even as she spoke Rabbit began filling a plate with eggs, bacon, and toast. One piece with strawberry jam and the other with grape jelly.

Steve looked up, worried. “Does she need a doctor?”

Rabbit gave him a sad smile. She, out of all the automatons, knew the most about Steve’s life before he came to the manor. “No, I don’t t-t-think it's that kind of sick.”

Steve looked back down at his plate, aimlessly pushing the eggs around on it as Rabbit left the room. Michael grabbed a plate for himself and sat across from the sound engineer. For a while they ate in silence before Michael spoke. “You really shouldn’t punish yourself like that.” His eye dating to the hastily fitted bandages.

Steve didn’t say anything, so Michael continued. “This isn’t like before. You know it’s not. You don’t have to hurt yourself. This manor...we’re family.”

Steve snorted. “I was ‘family’ out there, too. We were still...punished...brutally.”

Michael leaned over the table putting his hand on Steve’s arm. Steve accepted the comforting touch. “It’s not like that here.”

Steve nodded. Michael was the only one he trusted enough to show any real human emotions with, including doubt, to the others he wanted never to be viewed as ‘weak.’

“Ah-hem.” The Spine cleared his throat softly as he came into the room but it was enough warning. Steve quickly pulled his arm away from Michael’s touch and wiped at his face before blowing his nose, mumbling something about “damn allergies….”

“How’s David?” Michael asked as he watched The Spine also get a drink of water, filling his boiler.

“Still sleeping. I thought I would take him a plate.” The Spine replied, doing the same as Rabbit before him. The twins ate almost exactly alike.

Michael nodded, “Just don’t forget, we are meeting with Peter at 9:30am to talk about our guest.”

The Spine nodded. “I will remember.” He said before walking out of the kitchen.

Steve sighed. The Spine didn’t even acknowledge him.

And that hurt more that his hands…

* * *

The Spine hadn’t wanted to be so far from David so soon after an ordeal, but David had agreed to stick close to Bunny while The Spine was helping Peter and Michael with Carley.  Still The Spine had ensured David was indeed feeling better, and that he’d eaten something proper before making his way back to the basement.

He knew Michael would tell Peter about last night.  He knew he’d be in trouble.

And he knew Peter wouldn’t be angry, just...disappointed.  He come to loathe that particular phrase just as much as any human.

As he approached the top of the basement staircase, he heard them speaking.  No doubt discussing the...incident. He hesitated, clicking off his connection to the Wi-Fi until they’d gone silent.

Preparing for the worse, he rounded the corner.  “Peter VI.  Mr. Reed.” he said politely.

“Spine.”  Peter nodded, turning and facing the automaton.  “Michael tells me you’ve already met our guest.”

“Yes, sir.”  He refused to make eye contact.  Or, well, as much eye contact as you could make with a keyhole mask.

“I wish you’d woken me before doing anything, and doubly so because you had Mr. Bennett with you. But what’s done is done, and, thankfully, no one got hurt.  Let’s leave it in the past.”

“I...thank you, Peter.”

Peter nodded.  “Did she give you a name? Anything I should know before we go in?”

“She said her name was ‘Carlianta-eskara,’ but she was often called ‘Carley.’  And the shock from my Tesla coil knocked out most of her non-essential systems.” The Spine replied.

“I assume she didn’t seem violent?” Peter fixed his keyhole gaze upon The Spine.

The Spine shook his head. “No.  If anything she seemed...defeated. She did ask if she was our prisoner before Steve found us.”

Peter nodded and glanced over to Michael. “And what did you tell her?” Michael asked.

“I...was not given a chance to answer...though David...well he said ‘no’ but that it was complicated. Neither of us were sure how to best answer.” The Spine dropped his head a little in thought.

Peter nodded, starting down the staircase, his mind turning too quickly to worry about acknowledging The Spine’s answer.

Michael shrugged and quickly followed, with The Spine only a step behind.

 

Carley’s eyes snapped open the moment she heard the heavy door unlocking.  She hadn’t even realized that she’d fallen asleep.  A quick diagnostic check told her that her systems were still in bad shape, but she couldn’t afford to show that now.  Not after the shouting match she’d overheard earlier.

She stood as the door swung open and two men stepped in, followed by The Spine.  She nodded in greeting, but forced herself to stand tall, and not shrink back against the wall.  Showing weakness now would do no good. She didn’t see David. She hoped he had not been punished for last night.

“The Spine says your name is ‘Carley?’” The man with the mask asked.

“Yes. It is a shortened version.” She replied.

“It okay if we use that?” he asked her in a steady voice.

Carley blinked.  Why would they care?  “It is acceptable.”

The masked man nodded. “I am Peter A. Walter VI and you are in Walter Manor. You’ve already met Spine.” He gestured towards his companion. “And this is Michael Reed, my head engineer. He assisted me in making sure you were alright after that little incident at the concert.”

Peter turned his head, noting the empty plate and glasses. “I see you’ve had something to eat, but are you still hungry?”

Carley blinked, confused. This was not the treatment she was expecting and this had to be the man in charge, if the name was anything to go by. They were being so polite...kind even. There had to be some kind of catch.

“No...Sir?” She hoped she hadn’t made another error in formalities, but as no one corrected her she continued. “I am good for the time being.”

“Good. Will you come with us, please?” Peter asked, turning on his heels without waiting for her to reply. She moved to follow, well aware that Michael Reed and The Spine were behind her as they climbed the staircase.

Carley was surprised at the nice but small room they moved into and The Spine shut the wooden door that led down the steps. So she was being moved. Good to know. She wished more of her systems were functional so she could map the layout of this manor.

They continued along, passing windows with sunlight shining in. Warm sunlight that danced across her implants as the past along the hallway. While they pasted many doorways, there were no doors. Good, there would be little to block her way if she had to make a run for it. A little silver robot dashed between doorways not too far ahead of them followed by an annoyed looking girl with blue hair.

What kind of place was this?

The stopped in front of a tall and ornate looking wooden doorway. It was quite old and very beautiful. Peter walking in to the dark room….it was so very dark, Carley felt herself hesitating.

“Come in, Carley.” He called and a light illuminated a single chair. She moved into the room and stood next to the chair. She wasn’t sure where the two humans were but The Spine blocked the doorway. Of course, to keep her from running...or escaping.

“You can sit down.” Michael's voice came through the dark.

Carley shook her head. “I would prefer to stand...if I may?”

“As you wish.” the reply came from the dark.

For a moment it was quiet. Then Peter’s voice came through the stillness. “Miss Carley, we would like to ask you a few questions. If you don’t mind.”

Carley swallowed hard. “May I choose not to answer them?” Even asking this was a risk, but they had been...nice... so just maybe there wouldn’t be any disciplinary electrical shocks for refusing to talk.

“Yes, you do not have to answer, though I would prefer if you were as honest with us as you can be, Miss Carley. Now, how did you get The Spine’s guitar?” Peter’s voice asked from the dark.

“Before I answer, may I see who I am speaking to?”  She shifted her weight from side to side, wishing that she could switch to infrared vision on her optical implant.

There was a sigh and then the room began to get less dark. Not brighter like a light being turned on...more like the darkness way fading into grey and then gone. “My apologies.” Peter said from his seat at a wooden desk only a few feet in front of her, “I forget how used to the dark I am.” he straightened his mask a bit. Michael was at his side.

Carley sighed softly.  “Thank you.  I found the pieces of the guitar in the remnants of Thornewood Castle, I believe it was called.  Between the castle’s security footage and the information in my cultural database, I was able to determine what it was supposed to look like.  I then repaired it and attempted to return it to you.”  She glanced to The Spine.  “It did not go as planned.”

Peter tapped his fingers in thought. “Security footage….”

“Sir? If anyone else see that...it won’t be good for us.” Michael spoke quietly, but Carley heard every word.

Peter ignored it for the moment. “Miss Carley, I am afraid I must have an answer to this next question.” Peter leaned on his desk closer to her. “Were you part of the collection? Or were you working for Du Franks?”

Carley sighed, looking away as she sunk into the chair.  “I was part of his...collection.  Collectible 2358.  I was...acquired...approximately one and one-half of your years prior to your android being taken.”

Peter watched her closely. Her body language rang true. If she was lying, she was a very good actress. “Your cybernetic parts; I’ve never seen anything like them. Where, exactly, were you acquired from?”

She wrapped her arms around herself, her organic hand pulling at her cloak.  “It is...a very long story.”

Peter leaned back into his chair and signaled for Michael to sit down as well. “We have time.”

Carley swallowed and looked away.  “To start: I am not human.  I’m from a planet called Lekida.  Our planet’s history is linked with yours, yes, but that is a story for another day.  I was part of a strike team sent here to apprehend a rogue Lekidan military officer.  He’d stolen several cases of a highly dangerous compound that we call the Draconis compound, designed by a hostile race called the Denore.”

“What does this Draconis compound do?”  Peter asked, already dreading the answer.

“It is a synthetic compound that imitates the myelin sheath of the nervous system.  It attaches itself to certain key points in the cranial nerves and brainstem.  When the body temperature of a person infected with Draconis rises over a certain point, the compound triggers memory engrams of the time frame shortly after infection.”  Carley grimaced. “It is a despicable compound, used for despicable purposes. The Denore are slave traders, and Draconis is often used in conjunction with torture as a means of keeping the slaves in line.”

The two men glanced over to The Spine, who was leaking a good amount of steam from his neck and cheeks. A fact that was not lost on Carley.

Michael spoke next.  “If it’s activated by heat...how do they not accidentally trigger it? You know… with regular labor or what have you?”

“The Denore homeworld is significantly colder than both Lekida and Solterra – Earth, pardon me.  The ambient temperatures on their ships reflect that.  From what I understand, they have small, artificially heated rooms called ‘agony booths’ where they would… ‘discipline’ unruly slaves.”  She shivered, remembering the faces of the refugees on her first away mission.

“David...” The Spine mumbled softly, worry clutching at his core for a moment.

“Is there a cure?” Peter asked. As all three had come to realize that must have been what was used on David.

Carley chewed on her lip.  “Technically no.  There’s no drug that anyone’s found to counteract the effects of Draconis, since it was artificially created.  However, the Lekidan medical corps have developed a procedure to remove the infected tissue from the patient.”  She looked up.  “Am I correct in assuming your technician was infected with Draconis?”  She asked, looking towards The Spine.  “I saw on the logs that he was…‘punished’...after your guitar was broken.”

The Spine vented steam from his back as his fins slid out.  She took that as a yes.

“I’m impressed that he has survived this long.  The local climate is not ideal for keeping Draconis dormant.” Carley nodded, speaking truthfully.

Michael whipped his head around to face her.  “This stuff is lethal?”

“In Solterrans – Humans: yes.  Draconis was specifically designed for Lekidan biology, and therefore isn’t strong enough to kill one of us.  However, since Humans and Lekidan biology is so similar, the drug is effective on both species, and Humans are, unfortunately, physically weaker than Lekidans. Often times, a Human body cannot withstand the stress of reliving memories, and...well.” Carley shrugged.

The Spine was already sending a text to check on David, holding the air in his bellows until he received a reply. David was currently helping Bryan and Bunny polish Zero and Rabbit. Rabbit had been jealous it was Zero’s polishing day and, being Rabbit, had pouted until she got polished too. Everyone was okay. The Spine slowly pushed the air from his bellows.

Peter leaned back in his chair. “I was able to create a system to help mitigate the effects, keep them from emerging, but real credit goes to The Spine for keeping David in one piece mentally and physically.”

The Spine only nodded. He should not have been surprised that Peter the 6th knew about everything he had been doing to protect and care for David. The long nights full of nightmares and crying. The depression at being restricted from several fun, normal things. The unconscious flinching that came with being touched by anyone that wasn’t an automaton and the embarrassment that followed. He and David were never separated for longer than an hour. The Spine wouldn’t allow that and Peter had made it clear when they first returned from Du Franks collection that The Spine was to watch over David. Not only because he was a valuable employee, but because he was considered family.

David had spent more time in The Spine's arms in the last 8 months then he could ever remember being held by his own mother.

Carley quirked an eyebrow and bowed her head.  “Then you are to be commended.  I do believe your technician might be the first human to survive Draconis for this long.”

Michael cleared his throat.  “How do you know others have died?”

Carley sighed.  “Your technician was not the first human captured.  There were adolescents and young adults who tried to explore the grounds and were taken.  The officer we were pursuing, Donatu, used them as…” She paused, looking at the floor.  “As laboratory specimens.  The footage was difficult to watch.  The owner of the property, Du Franks, he...he wanted to sell Draconis.  To make him and his family wealthier.” She shook her head.  “There are reasons Lekidans have not returned here.”

Peter frowned.  “’Returned…’  You said our histories are linked...what did you mean?”

“Lekidans were once Human.  In your ancient history – I’m uncertain of the exact time frame – a significant population was removed and relocated to Lekida.  We still don’t know who relocated us, but...it seems it was fortuitous.  Separated from the rest of Human society, the Lekidan colony made the choice to follow the paths of peace, rather than war as Solterra– as Earth did.”

Peter rocked back in his chair. The room became quiet once more. “There are several stories of human populations going missing. Perhaps you are a descendant of Atlantis.” He mused more to himself than the others in the room. After a moment, he turned his keyhole mask back to the girl. “Miss Carley I hope you will accept our apologies for what happened. You are free to leave but if you want to stay, we will do our best to help repair you.”

Carley blinked at the offer. She was not used to such kindness. She had not seen it for so very long, but still she hesitated.

Peter smiled slightly, “Of course, you won’t have to stay in the Vault. I believe bedroom 12 is open and should suit your needs.”

“I...You’re...releasing me?”

“You were never our prisoner, Miss Carley.” Peter smiled.  “The only reason we put you in the Vault in the first place was because you were unconscious and circumstances were confusing enough for us to warrant using caution.”

Carley blinked, then looked down.  “I have nowhere to go.  My teammates are dead, and so many of my systems are offline.”

“We can help get your systems running again.” Michael said, trying to hide the excitement in his voice at possibly learning about new technology.

Carley swallowed.  “Your other employee did not seem very keen on my being here.”

Peter sighed and glanced to Michael. “Steve’s overprotective.  I'll speak to him if he’ll make you uncomfortable.”

“I do not want to cause problems.  I appreciate your help, and I’m glad I could return your guitar to you.  But I should go.”  She clammed up, crossing her arms and leaning back.  There was no way they were being kind out of the goodness of their hearts.  Something was wrong, it had to be.

“Please Miss. Please let us repair you and perhaps you could tell us more of this drug? Maybe we could create a cure here.” The Spine stepped into the room, removing his hat, quite aware of the favor he was asking.

Carley sighed, she didn’t care for this Steve human, but David and The Spine had been kind to her, as well as Peter and Michael. She still was not sure, but then again she had no place to go and without food, shelter, or repairs she would not make it too long on her own.

She was silent for a few moments.  “Very well.” She sighed, standing.  “Thank you for your kindness.”

Peter nodded.  “Spine? Why don’t you and David see what you can do about her cybernetics?  Michael, I need you with me. There’s some...administrative tasks we’ll need to tend to, especially with this new information.”

Michael nodded.  “Right behind you, Boss.”

Peter stood and nodded to her before he and Michael left.

Carley turned to The Spine.  “I’m unsure what else to say about Draconis.  Only that finding a cure on this planet will be impossible.  It’s a synthetic compound, with no natural remedy.  The Denore were thorough.”

The Spine tried not to frown as Carley joined him in the hallway. “Then please...don’t mention it to David...or anyone else. I don’t want to upset him.” Worry flicked over The Spine optics as he led the way, “David is lab four right now with his sister, and my sister and brother.”

“As you wish.  Lead the way.”  She said, quietly following behind him as they left the dimly lit room.

* * *

David tried to hide his laughter as Rabbit, Zero, and Bunny chased Bryan around the lab, with Rabbit leading the charge to crown him “King Funnyman of Jokeville” with the crown being an amalgamation of tools all duct taped together.

“Come on Bryan t-t-take the crown!” Rabbit smiled, trying very hard to place the mess on Bryan’s head. He was good at dodging.

“As much as I would love to, Rabbit, I don’t think it's a _crowning_ achievement.” Bryan teased.

David was laughing so hard, he didn’t hear The Spine come in until a silver hand landed on his shoulder. The Spine was smiling at his technician’s joy, but still moved his hand down to check the fabric covered cold gel pack.

“Hey, The Spine!” Rabbit called.  “Matter Master Bryan is now King Funnyman!  He makes jokes, and we’re trying to give him a crown! Come help us!”

The Spine shook his head. “Not now, Rabbit.”

She tossed Zero the ‘crown’ and grabbed her brother’s arm, yanking the lanky robot into the fray. “You know what? Change of plans! It’s time for ROBOT TICKLE PILE!” She screamed, pinning The Spine underneath her.

“RABBIT!” The Spine squeaked, covering his neck’s maintenance panel a second too late. Rabbit pulled it open and twisted a few wires around her fingers, pulling peals of laughter from the silver robot.  

Zero grinned, tossing the duct tape crown to the floor and grabbed ahold of Rabbit’s arm, finding her ‘ticklish’ joint.  Which only caused her to reach around and use her free hand to mess with the cables on his head.

The three human technicians were all doubled over in laughter at the scene before them. The Spine tried to wiggle his way out from under his two siblings.  “Let me up!”  He gasped, slapping at his sibling’s forms.  “Guys, let me up!”

Zero and Rabbit paused to look at each other for a second, then matching ‘evil’ grins spread across their faces as The Spine turned to look at them.

He had just enough time to gasp out a quiet “oh no,” before both of his siblings launched a fresh assault on his maintenance panels.  Steam erupted from all three of the robots, but most of it was definitely from The Spine as he laughed and laughed, squirming and wiggling as he tried to escape.  

The three human technicians finally stepped in to break things up, only for Rabbit to abandon her assault on The Spine and go for Bunny instead, gently tickling the woman’s ribs.  “HUMANS NOW INCLUDED!!” Rabbit announced.  
  
Bunny’s laughter drowned out Rabbit’s as Zero made for Bryan, who practically vaulted himself over a table and out the door. Zero was hot on his heels giving chase. Neither he nor the youngest robot noticed Carley watching the chaos with a strange confusion.  
  
The Spine stood up, closing his maintenance panel and brushing himself off as Rabbit finally let Bunny go. The girl was gasping and panting on the floor but wearing a bright happy smile as a few left over giggles escaped her lips.

“See, The Spine?  Aren’t you glad you had a little fun?” Rabbit teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

“I’m not sure I’d call it ‘fun,’ Rabbit.”  He mumbled as he straightened out his vest and retrieved his hat that had fallen off during the tickle attack.

“I thought it was funny.” David giggled, leaning against the wall as he tried to catch his breath.

Rabbit grinned.  “Can’t argue with that, now c-c-can ya, The Spine?”

Still grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Rabbit closed the small gap between her and David, the only human who hadn’t been tickled yet. She could hear Bryan laughing across Zero’s Wi-Fi. Poor David couldn’t be left out of all the fun.

David was still giggling but suddenly his smile dropped at Rabbit’s mischievous smiling and slow, stalking approach. Before Rabbit’s wiggling fingers could reach him The Spine caught her hand firmly in his and pinged her Wi-Fi with a very stern ‘No’ and that he would explain later.

Rabbit didn’t break her smile but she backed away. As soon as Rabbit’s tickling hands we nowhere near his belly, David let out a sigh and smiled again as he moved to help his sister recover.

Carley coughed slightly from the doorway. Rabbit was instantly between this stranger and Bunny, whom David was currently helping up off the floor. Rabbit’s fingers twitched at her jawline, ready to disengage her lower jaw and bring up her flamethrower to protect her technician if needed.

“Stand down, Rabbit.”  The Spine said, having finally readjusted himself from the tickling onslaught.  “Peter VI says it’s alright for her to be here.”

Rabbit tilted her head to the side and stepped over to her, walking around her and sizing her up.  “You not gonna hurt anyone, r-r-r-right?”

“I have no intentions of harming anyone.”  Carley spoke, watching as the copper automaton continued to circle around her.

“You fixed and brought my little brother’s guitar back.”  She said, stopping right in front of the woman.  “The one Pappy gave him.”

“I...Yes.” Carley answered, slightly unsure what a ‘Pappy’ was.

Rabbit grinned, turning to The Spine.  “And Petes and Michael said she was cool?”

The Spine nodded.  “She doesn’t pose a threat, Rabbit.  She’s a friend.”

Rabbit beamed, reaching out and yanking Carley into a near bone-crushing hug.  “I LOVE NEW FRIENDS!”

Carley coughed, tensing up at the unexpected contact.

“Rabbit, don’t break her.” Bunny chastised softly. Rabbit could be a bit much on first introductions.

“Rabbit, Bunny. I’d like you to meet Carley. Carley is going to be staying with us for a while.” The Spine said. “You already know David.” David gave a nod of greeting at his name.

Carley quietly returned the gesture.

The Spine continued. “The other robot was our brother Zero and the human technician with him, Bryan.”

The Spine clicked his Wi-Fi back on, intent on calling Zero to return and immediately scolded Zero to stop tickling Bryan before the human passed out. Zero sent a sheepish apologetic feeling through the Wi-Fi and The Spine quietly shook his head. Zero had been “asleep” too long. He had so much to learn and relearn regarding humans and life. Even though Bryan was exhausted from laughing, he was unharmed.

Carley sighed with relief when Rabbit finally let her go.  Contact felt strange.  She’d spent so long fending off Du Franks and Donatu. She wasn’t sure how to feel about touch that wasn’t meant to harm.

Bunny stepped forward, offering her hand.  “Nice to meet you.  For real this time.”  She chuckled.

Carley arched her eyebrow at Bunny’s hand, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

David cleared his throat.  “It’s a handshake.  Y’know, like a greeting?”  He held out his hand to The Spine and quickly demonstrated.

“Oh.” Carley couldn’t hide the slight blush on her cheek as she quickly returned the gesture with Bunny.  “It is...nice to meet you, as well.”

After the greeting the room became quiet. Bunny and Rabbit enjoying looking over the new guest a bit too much. David could see the gleam in his sister’s eyes. She wanted to know all about the implants. “So...what now?” David asked out loud.

The Spine blinked, he had been lost in thought. “Peter suggested you and I see about getting her implants working again.”

Bunny instantly pouted. “That’s not fair.” She felt she was just as good an engineer as her brother.  It was a very cute pout, adorable really, Carley thought and then instantly chastised herself for it. This was not the time nor the place for such thoughts.

“Well...I suppose, if Carley doesn’t mind, Bunny and Rabbit could help?” David asked.

Carley hesitated.  “My implants are very delicate...if I am allowed access to one of your repair laboratories and to your supplies, I will be able to repair them myself.”

Bunny fluttered. “But I am very gentle. I promise.” Bunny made a strange slashing motion over her chest area that Carley did not understand.

“Of that, I have no doubt, Ms. Bunny.  But one wrong move could accidentally shut down a critical system.  And I have no wish to burden you any further.”

Bunny pouted again, “Well...could we watch? That way we’ll know what to do if something ever happens again. Lab seven should have everything you need in it.” She looked from Carley to her brother for confirmation. He nodded, he was also going to suggest lab seven. “Oh, and it's just Bunny, no need to be formal, we’re all friends here.” Bunny smiled brightly at Carley. A warm and friendly smile.

“Very well, Bunny.  I have no aversion to you watching as I make repairs.”  She allowed a smile to grace her face as Rabbit started bouncing with joy and darted out of the room to grab Zero and Bryan.

As the group started for Lab Seven, Carley couldn’t help but think that, just maybe, these people would be willing to help her.   
  



	4. Chapter 4

Carley had not anticipated the entire household being interested in her implants.  She’d known that they were uncommon at best and unheard of at most. But, having an audience while she worked was...not exactly what she’d had in mind.

At least the automaton, Rabbit, has settled down before eventually wandering off. At first Carley had been worried because she was practically looming over her with interest, but she bored quickly and soon it was just Bunny and David who were taking notes as quickly as their fingers could write.

The Spine had been quietly observing, in a cloud of his own steam, as he’d watched her repair the, admittedly, extensive damage to her implants.  She’d spent the rest of the morning and a good chunk of the afternoon working on her facial implants alone.  Thankfully, her hosts had plenty of tools for working with cybernetics, and once she’d restored the tool set in her hand, she was able to get the micro-circuitry back up and running with relative ease.  

She let her cybernetic hand drop and rolled her organic shoulder.  “I believe I should rest before starting the repairs on my arm.”  She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.  

David nodded.  “Yeah, my hand can’t take much more writing anyway.” He gave his hand a shake working out the numb feeling.

“And you should change your gelpack.” Bunny chuckled.  “What with the walking thunderstorm over there.”  She jerked her head towards The Spine, who was still lost in his own thoughts.

The Spine blinked, chasing away his thoughts before giving Bunny his famous slight smirk. “And the three of you are overdue for a meal. It’s almost dinner time, you missed lunch.” He teased a little, hiding what he had been thinking.

“What do you say Carley? Feel like joining us getting something to eat? Or would you prefer to rest?” Bunny asked, putting down her clipboard. It was exciting to see some of the lights now working on Carley’s arm and face.

“She does have a room, right Spine?” David asked.

“The Spine nodded, “Yes, Peter suggested bedroom 12. It is open.”

Bunny smiled brightly and grabbed Carley’s human hand. “Oh! I’m in bedroom eleven! We’ll be neighbors.”

Carley felt a small smile touch her lips. “I think something to eat and then some rest sounds very good.”

The twins flanked Carley on either side, chatting lightly about nothing really important, mostly just talking about the rooms they were passing as they moved to the kitchen. The Spine brought up the rear, sinking into thought once more.

After a moment he felt Rabbit ping him on the Wi-Fi. He had forgotten it was on. The way the automatons could sense each other through it was always amazing.

[You okay, The Spine?  You’ve been real quiet ever since we left to watch Carley.]

The Spine didn’t reply for a moment, taking the time to limit his connection to the Wi-Fi.  [I’m fine, Rabbit. It’s nothing.]

He could feel Rabbit’s disbelieving expression from across the house. She knew that he had just limited his reception.  [Okay, but if you wanna talk about it, come find me, okay?]

[Alright, Rabbit.] The Spine nodded.

“Spine?”  David tapped him gently on the shoulder.  “You okay?”

The Spine blinked and turned his attention to David. “Just talking to Rabbit.  Did I miss something?”

“Well, I mean the kitchen was two doors back.”  David jerked his thumb over his shoulder, a well-meaning smirk on his face.

“Oh.  Right.”  The Spine shook his head, clearing the proverbial cobwebs from his cogs.  “It seems I need to refill my boiler.”

David chuckled and followed The Spine back into the kitchen.

The room was bustling, with robots and humans practically tripping over each other to get food and drink.  It was pizza night, which meant every human in the house would show up, even Peter.

Carley stood alone in a corner, watching as everyone grabbed gooey, topping-filled slices of pizza and bottles of soda or beer and sat at the table, all of them talking over one another.  With her aural implants fully re-initialized, she was able to tone down some of the background noise, but she was still unsure of what to do.

It was Zero who noticed her nervousness and quietly made his way over to her.  “You okay, Miss Carley?”

Carley shrugged. “I am unsure of where I fit.”

“Ohhhh.  That’s okay.  It took me a little bit to find my place, too. I’ll sit with you if you want.” Zero smiled warmly at her.

“That’s...very kind of you, Zero.” She tilted her head to the side.  “‘Spine, Rabbit, and Zero’...well, your creator certainly had an affinity for whimsical names.”

Zero beamed at her and handed her his glass of water and a plate.  “You ever had pizza before?  I can’t eat it, cuz Mr. Reed says it clogs up my gears.  But it sounds good!”

“I have not.” She glanced at the half-empty pizza boxes.  “What is it made of?”

Zero opened his mouth to reply when a voice interrupted.

“What’s _she_ doing here?” A familiar but cold sounding voice called from the doorway, making all conversation in the room stop.  Steve narrowed his eyes at the cyborg across the room.

“Steve…” Michael stood up, putting himself between Carley and the sound engineer.  “Peter gave her clearance.  She’s okay.”

Steve turned his gaze on Michael and held it for a moment before shrugging and walking into the room, grabbing a beer. Slowly the chatter among the humans and robots began again but Michael knew better. Something about Carley rubbed Steve the wrong way...and he was going to have to confront Steve about it at some point, should it become a problem.

“H-h-here Carley. Have s-s-some.” Rabbit said sliding a piece of pizza onto the girl’s empty plate.

“Thank you.”  She paused as both Zero and Rabbit sat down.  She glanced towards Steve and stepped back and set the glass of water back on the countertop.  “I....think it would be best if I ate on my own.”  She mumbled, worming her way around The Spine and David and all but bolting out the door and down the hallway.

In the wrong direction.

Chatter once again died in the room at her sudden departure, with no one entirely sure of what to do or say.

Carley came to a stop in front of what looked like a formal sitting room.  The map that Rabbit had uploaded to her when she’d experimentally connected to the Manor’s Wi-Fi told her that it was Living Room 1.  Bedroom 12 was on the other end of the building and up a few flights of stairs.  With a sigh, she leaned against the wall, staring at the rapidly cooling pizza.  Her appetite was gone, but there was no point in wasting it.

“Miss Carley?”  Zero’s voice rang out, his blue photoreceptors cutting through the relative dimness of the corridor.  “What happened?”

“Do not trouble yourself with me, Zero.  I can tell when I am not wanted.  You should go back to your companions.”

“Well, okay.  But…it’s no fun if you eat all by yourself.  That’s what all the other humans say.”

“But I am not Human.”

Zero cocked his head to the side.  “Do your people eat alone all the time?”

Carley looked away slightly. “...No.”

“So come on.  You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.  You can just sit and listen.”  He rested his hand on her upper arm.  “There’s no point in being alone if you don’t have to be.”

Carley looked away, weighing the options her head.  “I...would like to. But...it would be better for your companion if I did not.  You should return to the dining area, before people become concerned.  I’ll make my way to my room should anyone need me.”  She started off through the corridor, not giving Zero a chance to argue any further.

The robot frowned, but made his way back to a much quieter kitchen. “She says she’s gonna eat in her room.”

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Rabbit spoke up.  “Is she g-g-going the right way this time?”

“Yeah.”  Zero sat down with his glass of water.  “But she looked really sad.”

Steve rolled his eyes.  “Come on, stop trying to guilt trip me. It’s not my fault.”  He muttered. He just wanted to keep his family safe.

“No one said it was,” was Chelsea’s reply. It was non-judgmental and honest but it still came out harsh in the little room.

The mood in the kitchen was properly soured by the time Peter made it. “What happened?”

Everyone looked around to each other before David spoke up.  “Nothing.  Carley wanted to eat by herself, that’s all.”

“Shame.  I was hoping we could all talk to her.  Oh well. So, Twins: what all did you learn today?” Peter asked, grabbing some pizza for himself. While he would not eat in front of the others, after all it was hard to eat with a mask on, he always made sure to get a plate on pizza night to take back to his office.

* * *

Carley made it back to her room after getting lost only once.  It was sparsely furnished.  A bed, a dresser, a desk and chair, and a miniature bookshelf that was serving as a bedside table.  A heavy, dark red curtain spanned the doorway in lieu of an actual door.  Most of the manor had these curtains rather than doors.  

A similar curtain separated a simple bathroom, only this one was blue.  A small array of soaps were lined up on the shower shelf, and red towels hung from the rack by the doorway, but it was otherwise bare.

She set her plate on the desk and quietly removed her cloak.  There was little point in keeping it on anymore, as its significance was unknown to Humans and the ones in this Manor had already seen her implants.  She picked up the slice of pizza and frowned.  Du Franks often ate a similar food, but usually covered in chopped vegetables and sliced meats.  He often offered it to her as ‘better’ food in exchange for...favors.  She’d always refused.

This variant only had one type of sliced meat on it.  Pepperoni, if her database was correct.  She took a hesitant bite and was pleasantly surprised at the combination of flavors.  She finished before she’d realized it, regretting not grabbing an additional slice before leaving.  She hadn’t realized how hungry she actually was.  But returning to the kitchen wouldn’t be a very good idea, not at this time.

She sighed and glanced back around the room before drawing the red curtain closed and starting the water in the shower.  A proper bath would do her some good.  She turned the water up until it was practically scalding as it began to fill the tub.  She silently thanked the universe that her implants were waterproof.

The warmth of the water eased the tension in her muscles as she sunk into it.  Just as she was reaching for the soap, she heard a high-pitched shriek and a loud clattering of something falling to the ground.

She grabbed the nearest towel and wrapped it around her body as she peeked around the blue curtain.

A small, animal-like robot was sitting in the middle of the room, with the grate from the vent beside them.  They looked up and their eyes glowed a brilliant blue as they inhaled loudly.  “I knew it!!” They cried.  “I knew it! I knew the robots were hiding a new person from me! Are you my technician?  Like the robots all have one of their own! You must be! GREAT! Why else would the robots be so secretive?!”  The little animal leaped up and ran up to her. “I’m GG!  That’s short for Gwedalyndia Gertrudeofferson! I’m a robot baby giraffe! Like from the name of the band!”

Carley quirked an eyebrow, holding the towel tighter around her body with her cybernetic hand.  “I’m Carley. I didn’t realize--”

“The robots and Peter and the Walter Workers and everyone kept saying I wasn’t supposed to bother you, that you weren’t a new employee, but that’s just silly, right?  I mean, no one else ever comes to the Manor. They must’ve thought that it’d be an awesome surprise! But you can’t keep secrets from GG!”  She laughed, high-pitched and rapid, as she jumped onto the bed.  “I can’t believe I’m FINALLY GETTING MY OWN TECHNICIAN, TAKE THAT SPINE!”  She shouted.

Carley winced, turning down the input on her aural implants.  “GG, the others are correct, I’m not--”

“AND! Look at how COOL YOU LOOK!  I’ve got the COOLEST looking technician! WOO!”  She jumped down and ran up to Carley, making the woman step back.  “None of the other humans have cool robot arms and face parts!  I bet all of them are real jealous!  Just like all the robots are SUPER jealous of me!”

“Uh…”  Carley quickly connected to the Wi-Fi just long enough to realize that all of the robots were on the other end of the house, before dancing her way around the little silver giraffe and grabbing her clothes, re-dressing as quickly as she could while trying to avoid stepping on her.  So much for a relaxing bath.  “GG, I’m not your technician.  I’m--I’m just a guest.”  She stammered out, biting back a swear as she stepped on the grate on the floor.

“Sure you are!  You don’t have to keep up the pretense anymore!  OH WAIT!  The other robots don’t know that I know!”

“GG…” Carley started.

“So I guess you kinda do have to, but it's just us for now, so it’s all okay!  So do we get to have girls’ nights like Bunny and Rabbit?  I wanted to join them but they always say ‘no.’

 _I wonder why..._  Carley thought, dragging the chair over to the middle of the room and reattaching the vent grate.  “GG, why were you in the vent?”

“I wanted to come check out what was up without the other robots following me! I’m the only one small enough to fit in the vents.  Well, the Spine’s head can, but he doesn’t like being just a head.  Anyway, what are we gonna do for our girls night, GG Tech! That’s your name now, by the way! We could have a pillow fight, or watch movies, or build a taco fort, or--” the little robot continued to list off activities that became increasingly absurd.

Carley sighed, climbing down from the chair and pushing it back to her desk before quickly wrapping her cybernetic hand around GG’s snout, effectively silencing her.  “GG!” She hissed. “My name is Carley, and I am not your new technician, nor an employee of the Manor. I am only a guest, and right now, all I want to do is take a bath.  Alone.”

“But you-- you really don’t work here?” GG blurted out as soon as Carley let go.

“No. I do not. I was only returning The Spine’s guitar to him, and circumstances required that I stay here for a little while.”

“But...when am I gonna get my own technician?!”  GG lamented.  “The other robots always get better everything than me!”

Carley sighed.  “I don’t know. But I would like to be left alone now.”

“I just wanted a friend of my own!  The only person who ever talks to me is QWERTY, and he hates me! And now you’re gonna LEAVE!”

Carley groaned as GG continued to wail at her feet.  This was not what she needed.  “GG, please calm down, I’m sure someone enjoys your company.”

“Steve’s kinda nice to me.  But he’s all grumpy right now!  I just wanted someone to be friends with!”

Carley let out another long-suffering sigh. “Alright, if it will make you feel better, you can stay here for a while.”

“Really?!”

“On the condition that you calm down and be quiet.”

“I can do that!  I’ll be so quiet you won’t even know I’m here!  The quietest-est!  Super quiet!  Not a single sound!”

“GG?” Carley chided as she drained the water from the tub.

“Yeah?”

“That’s not being quiet.”

“Oh.  Right.”  She curled up on the foot of the bed.  “Sorry.” She whispered.  “What’re we going to do?”

“I am going to read.  You may do as you please.” Carley answered, pulling out a novel from the small bookshelf.   _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer._ It would have to do.  She didn’t quite feel comfortable bathing where she couldn’t keep an eye on the small robot.

GG peered at the title of the book and her eyes glowed a little brighter.  “Can you--” she cleared her throat and dropped her voice back to a whisper. “Can you read it aloud?”

Carley quirked her organic eyebrow as she settled back against the pillow.  “Very well.”  She sighed, then began to read.

She read for about an hour before she put the book down to glance at her unexpected guest.  GG was curled up, her head resting on her spindly legs, her eyes closed.  She must’ve slipped into stasis while Carley had been reading.  The woman sighed through her nose as she put the book down on the table and gently gathered the little robot into her arms and started for the main living areas.

Her map said that GG had her own room to herself, so she headed there.  Thankfully it wasn’t too far away from where she was staying.  Again, there was no door, but judging by all of the plushies shaped like her and the clothing embroidered with her initials, it could only be GG’s room.

Carley set the sleeping baby giraffe on what looked like a nest of pillows and ensured that her boiler was still fairly full before dimming the lights and making her way back to her own room.

Now it was time for that bath.

* * *

Carley sat in her bed, but on top of the covers, feeling much better now that she’d had a good long soak in the tub. She really didn’t feel like sleeping. Not yet anyway. It had been a few hours since she had last spoken with any of the humans. Every once in a while, she tentatively reached out to the Wi-Fi, just barely touching it, feeling for the locations of the automatons.

It felt so...strange not to be alone anymore. Her mind drifted back to thoughts that she quickly pushed away. She had spent too long alone, in that box with only a pile of hay and a water bottle for company. She reached out once more just to...feel the closeness of the others on the same wavelength and was surprised when Rabbit’s signal appeared near her room.

Of course, Bunny had said that she slept in a nearby room. Assuming the rooms were numerically sequenced in order. Carley sighed and closed her eyes only to blink then open a moment later at the sound of a knock on her door frame.

“Can we come in?” Bunny asked, just outside the doorway with Rabbit smiling brightly behind her.

Carley sat up. “Of course.”

Bunny came in carrying one of the pizza boxes from the kitchen. Rabbit followed behind with folded up blankets and several pillows.

“We were wondering if you wanted some company on your first night.” Bunny asked shyly. She was wearing pink shorts and a matching pink tank top with a little white animal on them. “When David and I first moved in, we were so used to sharing a bedroom it took us over a week to finally get a proper night's rest.” Bunny stopped her explanation there, but it had been Rabbit who had finally lulled her technician to sleep in her own bed and did so for several nights until it became habit. The automaton could make her sweet melodica sounds surprisingly sleep inducing. Bunny never knew it, but the Spine had done the exact same thing for her brother but using his guitar.

Carley found her voice sticking in her throat. Was this some kind of trap? Were they really here to keep surveillance on her all night? Or was this something else? Something human and kind?  

“We also brought leftovers! In case y-y-you were still hungry.” Rabbit added, pulling Carley from her thoughts.  “Y’know, s-s-s-since you only had one slice of pizza before.”

 “Oh...Thank you...And you can stay, if you wish.” Carley smiled. _It’s not like I have much of a choice…_

Bunny grinned, setting the pizza box down on the foot of the bed.  “I didn’t know what you liked, so I brought a few pieces of all three types.  We got regular cheese, cheese with bacon and pepperoni, and supreme, which is kind of like a little bit of everything.”

Bunny opened the pizza box. “Have whatever you want.”

Carley took another piece, this one with another meat on it. The bacon one looked very good. Right as she put it up to her lips she became very aware of the eyes and optics upon her. It was...a little uncomfortable and as Carley took a bite she couldn’t help but use her poison sensors.

Once she’d properly started eating, having determined that the food was, indeed, not poisoned, Bunny beamed, grabbing her own leftover slice, while Rabbit set the pile of blankets and pillows on the bed.

Carley cocked her eyebrow at what Rabbit was doing. While the bed was big enough for two it really was not being enough for two human-sized beings and a robot.

Bunny seemed to sense her questions and swallowed her mouthful of pizza. “We...don’t have to stay the night if you don’t want.”  Her eyes darted to Rabbit and Rabbit gave a small nod. She would do whatever Bunny thought was best.

Carley hesitated.  On one hand, she hadn’t had any pleasant company since her stranding on this planet, and this woman and robot were willingly offering.  On the other, they could’ve been ordered to do this, to try and pry information out of her.  What else could they want from her? She’d been as honest as she could be.  She had nothing left to lose. 

But she was only mortal, and the idea of company overrode her doubts.  “No, please.  I would...like you to stay.”

Rabbit grinned.  “Great!  We’ll have a pajama party.  Well, I don’t have any pajamas, but Bunny does! And you do! R-r-right?”

Carley looked away.  “I don’t, actually. All I have is my uniform.”

Rabbit looked horrified. “N-n-no pajamas! No, t-t-that won’t do.”

“You can borrow some of mine. I’ll be right back.” Bunny offered hurrying from the room before Carley could say anything.

* * *

“Okay spill. What’s going on?” David said as he leaned against the doorframe of his room. Per usual the Spine had come to David’s room when it was close to the technician’s ‘bed’ time. The Spine was leaning down into David’s mini fridge getting out a new gel pack. “What do you mean David?” The Spine replied. “Also arm please.”

David sighed, coming into his room and held out his arm as The Spine stood and changed his gel pack. David couldn’t help but smile slightly. “You know I can do that myself.”

The Spine smirked at him and gently ran his metal fingers over the fabric and around the area of the injection site of David’s arm. He watched with slight satisfaction that David’s eyelids fluttered just a bit and he sighed again. Touch was so important to humans.

“Wait...don’t try to distract me.” David looked up into the mirth filled green photoreceptors. “You've had something on you mind all day.”

The Spine sighed, venting steam from his neck.  “It’s nothing to trouble you with, David.”

David frowned and laid his hand on the Spine’s arm. “But I am troubled.  ‘Cause _you’re_ troubled.  Just tell me what’s wrong.”

The Spine looked away.  “I...caused Miss Carley so much damage.  She isn’t even finished, she still has to repair her arm.  All she was trying to do was return my guitar, and I attacked her.”

“Spine…” David sighed. “You were protecting me.  It was an accident.”

The Spine vented some steam from his lips. Taking care not to heat the room.” I attacked her.  She hadn’t made any truly threatening movements.”

“Okay, so you made a mistake.  It happens. She’s fine, I’m fine.  It’s okay.”

The Spine shook his head. “I could have killed her.” His vow of peace programing kept reminding him of this fact.

“But you didn’t.” David reached up and gripped The Spine’s shoulders.  “If you’re that torn up about it, why don’t you say something to her tomorrow?  After everyone’s gotten some rest.  You can apologize if you still feel bad.  Clear the air, so to speak.”

“I...I will, David.  Thank you.”

David suddenly became quiet. It was not lost on the Spine. “David?” He questioned softly. The human would not make eye contact but he spoke in a whisper. “Would it...I mean. If you had...to protect me...I mean...Oh never mind I don’t know what I am saying.”

David moved to the bathroom and the Spine remained by the fridge letting David’s confused words replay. Surely, David couldn’t be doubting the Spine’s commitment to protect him...could he? Then again, the Spine was constantly beating himself up over hurting Carley and now given what he knew about the drug in David’s body. His technician HAD to trust him. If not, everything would fall apart...and David would die.

David came out of the bathroom now in just his boxers and a tee shirt. “Did you...feel like teaching me anymore tonight?” David hadn’t turned to look at the Spine but his fingers brushed the guitar in the stand by his bed.

“Of course David but first there is something I need to tell you.” The Spine said, David turned to look at him. “David...I would do anything to keep you safe. No matter how much my vow of peace program hurts me. I will never let you be harmed while I am around. Never again. I promise.” Bright green optics stared into brown eyes.

And David burst into tears…

The Spine crossed the room in a single step and drew David into a hug. The human sobbed against his chassis but the thrum of his boiler soon had tears stilling. “I’m sorry…” David mumbled against the fabric of the Spine’s tailor made suit. “I don’t know what’s come over me.”

“You have nothing to apologize for David.” The Spine rumbled out softly.

David sniffed. “I guess I am just a little on edge. I’m...more upset than I thought I would be...you know about being touched. Rabbit would never hurt me. So why can’t I just get over this...fear?”

The Spine vented a bit of steam. “David, if you want me to be perfectly honest, you might never ‘get over it’ as you say.”  He petted his friend’s hair softly.  “But it is not a personal failing.  It’s your body attempting to protect you from another...incident.”

“But it was Rabbit!  I know she’s never meant any harm.”

The Spine was quiet for a moment.  “Neither did Michael, that time when I…” Another hiss of steam from his neck. “...misspoke.”

“That was different...you weren’t focused on us.”

“No, David.  It’s not different.” The Spine pulled away, tilting David’s head up to meet his gaze.  “My brain might be cogs and wiring, but I am just as capable of...malfunctioning.  And I was not the one who had an ostensibly fun activity ruined for me.”  He took a moment to wipe a tear from David’s cheek.  “Your aversion to tickling is not your fault.  Just as my...mistake...was not mine.”

David dropped his head, resting it against The Spine’s chest.  “Th-thanks.  I think I needed to hear that.  I get tired of hearing ‘David you can’t do that,’ or ‘David, what about your gelpack,’ or...whatever other variant of that comes to mind.  I know they mean well, and they just wanna keep me safe, but it weighs on you after a while.  It starts all...blending together.”

“Perhaps we should speak to Peter about getting you psychiatric help again.”

David shrugged.  “I don’t know.  Not after that first woman.  She was awful.  Never actually listened to me.”  He sighed.  “I’m just exhausted right now.  I’ll probably be able to think a little clearer in the morning.”  He offered The Spine a weak smile as he pulled away.  “Goodnight, Spine.”

“Good night, David.  Sleep well.”  The Spine returned the smile, but let it drop the instant he was out of his technician room.   How was he supposed to tell him that the drug in his body was permanent, was potentially lethal?  And that the only known ‘cure’ was on a distant planet that they could not reach.

 

If only W.I.N.K could still be contacted.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update to our upload schedule: We have officially completed the story between the two of us, so we're going to move from uploading once a week on Mondays, to uploading twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. We hope you enjoy this installment of our co-authored universe.  
> -SE

Two AM. That time in the Walter Manor when all good little Walter Workers should be sleeping. All but one. Steve Negrete stalked the halls of the manor, grinding his teeth silently. This was his home...but it really wasn’t his. At least he had talked to Michael and they had actually talked. While Steve did not want to share too much information, Michael had been able to pound some logic into his thick head.

Slowly, he stopped outside her bedroom. He wondered if she was asleep. He wondered if she could sense him so close. If she could hear his heartbeat. She wasn't human after all, they still knew next to nothing about her.

Steve tapped gently on the doorframe while moving the red curtain back.

Carley’s eyes opened the moment she heard the tapping sounds against the wood. Bunny was still in the bed next to her, sleeping soundly. Rabbit appeared to also be in stasis at the heavy chair at the desk.

Carley sat up and looked towards the door. There was that man who didn’t like her. Already a few steps into her room. Steve, he was called Steve. She watched him look at Rabbit, and then Bunny before looking right at her. His eyesight seemed unhindered by the dark.

He opened his mouth and whispered at her. “Can you hear me?” It was barely enough to register in his own mind.

Carley furrowed her brow for a moment.  He was silhouetted against the hallway, and was just...standing there.  She took another look at Bunny and Rabbit and started to get up.

“You don’t have to get up if you don’t want to. If you can hear me, I won’t speak loud enough to wake them.” Steve offered, unsure if he really wanted her to get close to him, but he stood tall, showing no doubts.

Carley saw him draw up to his full height, hearing him speak this time.  “I am already up.” She whispered, stepping carefully over the discarded pizza boxes.  “Is something wrong?”

Steve shook his head no and stepped back fully into the hallway. He waited for her to join him before speaking again, still quietly. He had no desire to awaken Bunny or Rabbit. For a moment he just looked at her then he broke eye contact and mumbled. “...Sorry...I’ve been told to trust you. So I will...but you need to understand: the people in this manor… they are _all_ I have. ” He locked eyes with Carley once more.

“Of course.” Carley nodded.  “I have no intention of harming you or your companions, and I understand that the way we met was...less than ideal. You were only being cautious….”  Her brow furrowed as her gaze fell on his crudely bandaged knuckles.  “You’ve been injured.”

Steve glanced at his crude bandage job. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.” He said pulling his hands slightly behind his back. He could care less about his hands. The Spine not talking to him all day hurt more than his hands. And everyone’s look at dinner. And the long talk with Michael. He needed to try and at least be civil. “So...let’s try this again.” Steve held out his hand. “Hi, I’m Steve.”

“I am called Carley.”  She smiled, but took the opportunity to inspect the sound engineer’s wound. “This needs to be re-bandaged, you’re at risk of infection right now.” She looked up and met his gaze.  “Do you have a medical bay? Or infirmary of some sort?”

Steve rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah we do, one level down but don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it myself.” Steve flexed his fingers, wincing at the pain. They might already be getting infected, the tissue was certainly getting inflamed. 

Carley frowned.  “Please, let me help.  I am a trained medic.”

Steve went quiet in thought for a moment. He had already done such a bad job bandaging his hands by himself. “Alright Carley. I would be...grateful for the assistance.” He was speaking as politely and properly as he could. Another mistake and a subsequent lecture from Mike, or worse: from Peter, was definitely not what he wanted. And he wanted The Spine to talk to him again.

Carley tilted her head in confusion but nodded.  “Lead the way.” She followed quietly behind him as he led her through the dim passages to their infirmary.  It was fairly small, with room for only two patients at a time but it would do.   A quick scan of the room from her optical implant helped her find the supplies she needed: disinfectant, cotton balls, and bandages.   “Here, let me see your hands.”  She said, keeping her voice steady and comforting, just as she’d been trained.

She gently peeled the old bandages from his hands, noting how he winced when she moved his fingers.  “I’m sorry if my cybernetic hand is cold.  I’m afraid there’s little I can do.”

“It’s fine.” Steve mumbled, watching as the lenses in her eye shifted, zooming in and out as she inspected the abrasions on his hand.

“Nothing seems to be truly infected as of yet. However, I’ll clean it again, just to be safe.”  She said, dabbing some of the isopropyl solution onto a cotton ball.  “This may sting.”  She warned, just as she pressed it over the wounds.

Steve shrugged, saying nothing as she worked.  

Soon enough, she’d cleaned all of the abrasions and was gently wrapping fresh bandages around his hands.  “Try and keep them clean, and let me know if you need them changed.”  She smiled as she let go.

Steve rubbed his fingers over the bandages. Already his knuckles were feeling much better. “Thank you Carley. You...didn’t have to help me but thank you just the same.” It was obvious from Steve’s movements that caring was not something he was used too. At least not by a stranger... semi-stranger at this point. “You should probably head back to bed now. Bunny and Rabbit...they’ll panic if they wake up and find you gone.

 She cocked her head to the side.  “Why?  They barely know me?  And...I doubt I will be here that long.”

Steve gave her a smirk of a smile. “You don’t know them well yet but those two. They’ll worry like a mother hen about where you’ve gone until they find you. But I’m guessing with that...” he gestured to her face implant.  “You can probably tell Rabbit where you are.”

“I could, yes.  But your personal network is not for me to use.  I’ve only hooked up to it once, for Rabbit to upload a basic map.”  They stepped out into the hallway.  “Once my arm is fully repaired...I will be leaving.”

“Leaving? To go where?” Steve asked as they were already making their way back to bedroom twelve. Carley was unsure if he really wanted to know or was just making polite conversation in the dark manor.

“To attempt to go home. My team’s shuttle is still hidden somewhere on the Thornewood grounds.  Or it was when I left, but...there were too many surveillance devices in the immediate area to search, and even more so of a Human presence.”

Steve rubbed his chin in thought, if there was one thing he could do. It was get into places unseen. “We should talk to Peter in the morning. He’ll know what to do. If you want to go home, we will help you.”

Carley was taken aback by this and a look of shock crossed her face. “Why?” She found herself asking.

Steve shrugged again. “Because there is nothing like home...a place where you belong.”

Carley got the impression he was no longer just talking about her as Steve continued. “But no matter what, we can’t take David back there. I don’t know what that man fully did to him, I only saw a bit of his treatment but...He hurt David in a way no one should ever be hurt.”

Carley nodded, knowing full well what had happened to David.  She still had the security footage saved in her internal hard drives.  “I would never dream of asking any of you to accompany me.  It is far too dangerous.”

Steve smirked slightly again, and now whispered seeing as they were outside the bedroom. “We’ll still help, you’ll see. Good night Miss Carley.”

“I...good night.”  She mumbled, watching as Steve walked away.    She couldn’t ask the people of this manor to assist her.  They’d already done so much.  She’d be indebted to them for life at this rate.   She made the decision then and there.  Once she’d repaired her arm, she would leave that day.  ‘Mother hens’ or not.

* * *

Steve walked along the dark hallway deep in thought. Now what had made him say such a thing? Turning a sharp corner he bumped into The Spine carrying a tray. Reflexes kicked in and Steve quickly grabbed at the glass of milk to keep it from falling. “Geez Spine. I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you. Little late for a snack isn’t it?”

The Spine optics danced over Steve’s new bandages for a moment before speaking. “The milk and crackers are for David. He is having trouble sleeping tonight…”

Steve looked away. “I’m sorry to hear that.” His voice was honest. He didn’t like the idea of David or anyone in the manor, suffering.

“I am sorry too, Steve.” The Spine’s deep voice made Steve lookup, as the automaton continued. “I should not have been so harsh towards you. We have been together for so long; I know that you only want to protect us.”

Steve shifted his focus down to the tray in The Spine’s hands. He couldn’t risk looking at The Spine right now. Steve gave a shrug to cover his feelings. “Yeah...you guys mean a lot to me.”

“I know, and I should not have been so rude to you.”  He sighed. He couldn’t really focus on Steve right now. He needed to get back to David, but that thought upset the silver automaton, as Steve was also his friend and needed him. “It is late. You should get some rest, Steve.  Good night.”

“Night, Spine.”

The Spine watched as Steve walked away before venting steam from his back and making for David’s room.

 

Carley had carefully settled back in the bed, not wanting to disturb Bunny or Rabbit.   She could technically go for upwards of 72 hours without sleep, but facing another potentially long day of repair work, and then another long trek back towards the Thornewood grounds, every ounce of sleep she could get was precious.

One good thing about all her implants was that she could literally turn off parts of her mind in order to get to sleep faster.   Bunny rolled over in her sleep, squishing one of the extra pillows she’d brought in between herself and Carley, and the Lekidan couldn’t help but smile.

As she powered down her systems, the exhaustion in her organic parts made itself known and she quickly fell back asleep.

* * *

_“Carlianta, how are things looking?” Her commander asked, glancing over to her from the pilot’s seat._

_“We’re in the clear, Hanchon.  The area’s defenses didn’t detect us.”_

_“What defenses?” Their third team member, Jetanian, scoffed.  “This planet doesn’t even have a unified government.  They’ve barely made it past their own orbit, save for unmanned probes.”_

_Hanchon shook his head.  “It’s hard to believe we’re supposed to be vaguely related to these people.”_

_She shrugged.  “We can speculate on the differences in our cultures later.  Let’s just find this Donatu person and destroy the Draconis cache, then we can go home.”_

_Hanchon nodded. “Right, let’s stay on track.  Scanners?”_

_Jetanian tapped a few orders into his console.  “Got it.  Central-western portion of the north-western continent.  Database says local area is called...Washington?”_

_Carley quickly checked her own database.  While she had the same information as the shuttle’s computers, it was easier for her to parse the information.  “Washington State, A subsection of the nation-state known as the United States of America.”_

_Hanchon nodded.  “Alright, we’ll stay in the high stratosphere for now, avoid their local weather radar signals and aircraft.  Last thing we need is an accidental first contact.”_

_“Wouldn’t it be second contact?” Carley grinned._

_“Semantics.” Hanchon laughed as he guided the shuttle towards the location.  “Carley, I want you to go ahead and download the basic cultural and linguistic information from the computer.  Just to be on the safe side.”_

_“Yes sir.”_

_“Got a landing zone, sir.  Right next to the cache if I’m right.   Sensors say it’s part of a vast underground network.  Fairly advanced too, considering the surrounding technology levels…”_

_Carley downloaded the information to her hard drive as Jetanian and Hanchon both discussed the local area.  Hopefully it’d be an in and out operation._

_The shuttle landed with a jolt and she grabbed her medical kit and pulled her hood over her head, then helped Jetanian secure his spatial charges._

_“Alright, kids.” Hanchon turned to them, handing them each a sidearm.  “Let’s do this as quickly and as quietly as possible.  We’ll secure Donatu first, then destroy the Draconis.  You two all set?”_

_“Charges are good to go, sir.” Jetanian spoke._

_“Good. Carley?”_

_“Stasis chamber here is functioning normally. And my medical kit is ready.”_

_“Alright, let’s go.”  Hanchon said, opening the door and stepping into the Solterran night._

_The complex they’d landed near was enormous, and heavily guarded.    Carley ran a thermal imaging scan and quietly led her teammates to a maintenance door.  Hanchon disabled the simple lock and they all slipped inside._

_As they made their way through the complex, nausea welled in her stomach.  Row after row of cages, some with rare animal lifeforms, others with beings that could be sentient, lined the underground portion._

_“Goddess above,” Jetanian whispered.  “I’d say this was a prison, but who imprisons sentient beings next to animals and robots?”_

_Hanchon shrugged, peering into a box that had a four-legged creature with a horn on its head._

_Carley scanned the area’s boxes.  “These cages seem to be specially designed to contain each inhabitant, but the interiors are hardly humane. They are very small.” She did a quick data check.  “This doesn’t match Donatu’s psychiatric profile.  He’s not the type to imprison things just for show.  Only if necessary.”_

_Hanchon nodded.  “Not to mention, this complex is huge.  Even with his head start, he wouldn’t have been able to amass such a collection anyway.  Or construct these cages.  Maybe one or two, but not all of these.  This must be a Solterran’s work.”_

_Jetanian shuddered.  “All the more reason to avoid making contact with Solterrans. If this type of thing is going on…”_

_Carley shook her head, steeling herself.  “Let’s just finish our mission and get out of here.”_

_“Agreed.  Which way?” Hanchon nodded, steadying his rifle._

_“Follow me.”  Carley whispered._

_They crept through the complex, headed for the only Lekidan lifesign in the complex.  They made it to the main living areas, or so it seemed.  Each room varied greatly in their decor, and Carley had to turn away to avoid becoming ill when they found a room with the entire upper body of a Solterran woman mounted like a hunting trophy._

_Carley had dropped her hood, scanning the immediate area. “Hanchon, I think we’ve been detected.  Multiple lifesigns inbound.”_

_Hanchon swore.  “Time?”_

_“Only a few minutes.”_

_Hanchon sighed through his nose.  “Is Donatu one of them?”_

_“Yes, sir.”_

_“Take Jetanian and make for the Draconis cache.  I’ll handle these people.”_

_“Sir...I don’t think…” Carley started._

_“That’s an order, Medic.  Go.”_

_“Sir…”_

_“Go!”_

_Carley and Jetanian shared a look before reluctantly disappearing into a nearby hallway.  They only made past two more rooms before two robots intercepted them, electricity sparking dangerously from their green cores.  “Halt.”_

_Jetanian reached for his sidearm, stepping in front of Carley.  “What did it say?”_

_“To stop.  Lower your weapon!” She hissed when he took aim.  “You might--”_

_“Hostile activity detected, activating defenses.”  The robots spoke, both of them sending two bolts each of a high-energy discharge straight to Jetanian’s chest.  He dropped to the ground, unmoving._

_“Jetanian!”  Carley dropped to her knees beside him, quickly feeling for a pulse.  There wasn’t one.  “No…” She whispered, reaching for her medical kit, only for each of the robots to grab her arms.  “No!  Let me go! I can save him!”  She struggled, but even using the full strength that her implants allowed her, she couldn’t break free from the robots’ grip.  “Let me go! I can still save him, I can still save him!” She pleaded, but the robots were unfeeling, dragging her back to the room they’d left Hanchon in._

_The room was lit now, another robot hold Hanchon still as Donatu laughed from the wall he was leaning on.   Two Solterrans stood in front of him, a rather overweight male and an elderly female._

_Hanchon grunted, a bruise beginning to form on his left eye.  “We can add another count of assault to your list of charges, Donatu.”_

_The robots holding Carley forced her to her knees beside Hanchon, then both of them found the robot’s yanking their heads back by their hair, forcing them to look at their captors._

_Donatu moved over to them. Getting down in Hanchon’s face. “You are a fool to think I would be taken so easily.” He spat onto Hanchon, before looking at Carley. “Pathetic little team you have here.”_

_One of the green robots dragged Jetanian’s body into the room, while the other three held them on their knees._

_Hanchon winced when Jetanian’s body hit the floor.  “You--”_

_“I tried, sir.” Carley spoke.  “I tried to get to him in time, but…”_

_“Not your fault, Medic.”  Hanchon growled.  “And murder too, now Donatu?  You aiming for a lifetime on a penal colony?”_

_Donatu laughed, a deep cold sound. “Too Funny! You...you actually think you are taking me back? You are both already dead.”_

_The overweight Solterran stalked over to her. “Ohh! She’s pretty. I don’t care very much for thieves and trespassers but you, my pretty girl….I’ll add you to my collection.”_

_The older female frowned. “Son, don’t you think it's best to just be rid of them?”_

_The man turned and stomped his foot. “No! I want her! I want her! I can’t stand it! Mummy...let me keep this one.” He ran his fat hand down her cheek, feeling over part of her cybernetic implants._

_Carley forced herself to remain still, not wanting to give this Solterran the satisfaction of a reaction._

_Hanchon hissed.  “Get away from my medic.  She’s my subordinate, not your plaything.”_

_The human male laughed. “Everything here is my plaything. Haven’t you seen my beautiful collection? Do what you want to him, Donatu, but I want her.” As he spoke, his hand trailed down her neck and to her mechanical arm._

_Carley grit her teeth and electrified the panel on her shoulder, sending a mild shock to the male’s hand.  Not enough to kill or even cause injury, just enough to ward him away._

_The fat male wailed and pulled his hand back, stomping his feet and putting his finger into his mouth. “She hurt me! Mother! She shocked me.” He narrowed his eyes at her. Face red with anger. “She needs to be punished Donatu, but don’t kill her. I still want her for my collection. She’s so unique.” The way he changed emotions was disturbing. One moment he was angry and the next: nothing but greed._

_“I have just the idea, Mr. Du Franks…” Donatu grinned, stroking Hanchon’s cheek.  “Just the idea.”_

_The robots dragged them both away, down to what Carley could only describe as a torture room.  She was held fast by two robots while Hanchon was secured to a wall with heavy metal cuffs that he could never hope to break._

_She fought against the robots that held her as Donatu injected him with some sort of drug that amplified his sensory input._

_She fought when he started to hallucinate._

_She fought when he called for her, begging and screaming for relief._

_She fought when he started to bleed._

_And bleed._

_And bleed._

_And bleed._

* * *

Carley woke with a gasp, shooting bolt upright in bed and startling both of her companions.  Sweat drenched the organic half of her face as she frantically scanned the room.

“Carley?”  Bunny’s voice was soft with sleep, as she hesitantly took Carley’s trembling organic hand.  “What is it? What happened?”

Rabbit stood, getting a cup of water from the sink in the bathroom and offering it to her.  “Here…”

Carley gently pulled her hand from Bunny’s and rubbed her eyes, wiping the sweat from her brow, then accepting the water with a nod.  “I’m sorry I woke you.” She whispered, not entirely trusting her voice not to shake.  “Even with all my cybernetics, I can still fall prey to nightmares.”

“What about?  Can we help?” Bunny asked.

“No… no. I'd rather not talk about it.”

“Is th-th-th-there anything we could g-g-get you?” Rabbit asked. “Another p-pillow or b-b-blanket? Maybe a teddy bear?”

“No, no.  I'm fine. Thank you.”  Carley waved her hand as she stood. Her heart was still racing from the memory. “I just need to calm down for a little bit. Then I'll get back to sleep.”

Bunny and Rabbit exchanged a look before settling back down. “Do you want to be alone?” Bunny asked, grabbing her pillow, just in case.  

Carley hesitated.  “I'm...not sure.”

Rabbit suddenly smiled. “I know w-w-what to do. Wait here.” She hurried out of the room. Bunny and Carley waited and soon Rabbit returned clutching a book to her core. “Ma would read fairy stories to us when we couldn’t s-s-sleep. Even a-a-after Ma was gone. The Spine always r-r-read it to The Jon and me.”

The book was old. The cover mostly faded but it looked to have once been quite colorful. A small bit of gold lettering still remains. Rabbit opened the book and cleared her throat. “Once upon a t-t-time…” Rabbit read one story, then another; all about princesses and knights and dragons and magic spells. Somewhere between story two and three, Bunny drifted back to sleep on the bed next to Carley. And by the end of the third story, Carley was yawning, feeling calm enough to sleep again. It was almost dawn when Rabbit shut the book.

Rabbit got up quietly and stretched. She had enough stasis for the night and was content to sit by the window and watch the sun rise.

* * *

The Spine walked quietly back into David’s bedroom hoping his technician had fallen back to sleep. The human needed more than three hours of rest, but the nightmares did not seem to want to leave him alone tonight. His mind seemed unable to settle into sleep mode.

“S...Spine?” David mumbled, moving to sit up in his bed. His body trembled slightly, exhaustion obvious. The Spine came over and put the tray down on top of the mini fridge.

“I’m here, David. I brought you some milk. Can you drink it for me?” The Spine asked, holding out the glass to the bleary eyed human.

David took it with a shaking hand, only for The Spine to steady the bottom of the glass so David could drink without dropping it. Once the glass was empty, The Spine took it from David. “You need to try and go back to sleep.”

David weakly shook his head ‘no’ and The Spine sighed. Stubborn was a word he often found the humans in the manor to be. So instead, The Spine picked up the guitar he had gifted David and sat down in the desk chair.  David rubbed at his eyes as The Spine started to play and sing. It was an old song. A lullaby The Spine had written back in the early 1900’s for Peters 2 and 3. It was one of the first song the automaton had ever written and was the go to lullaby in the house for humans who needed it.

 

_Sleep now and dream...Nothing to fear,_

_Safe in your bed...I am right here._

_Rest your head...Sleep and dream,_

_Close your eyes...Sleep and dream._

_Listen to my nightingale song,_

_I’ll stay with you until the morn._

_Rest your head...Sleep and dream,_

_Close your eyes...Sleep and dream._

_Warm, safe and loved...that you are,_

_Nothing to fear...I’m never far._

_Rest your head...Sleep and dream,_

_Close your eyes...Sleep and dream._

 

The Spine sung on repeat, looping the lullaby as many times was needed until the one being sung to was lulled to sleep. The warm milk seemed to be kicking in as David’s eyelids became heavier and heavier. Soon, all The Spine could hear as he sang softly was the deep, even breathing of his sleeping technician.

With the greatest of care not to make a sound, The Spine laid the guitar in his lap and vented a little steam from his lips. He wondered if he should go check on Steve. The sound engineer looked like he needed a hug badly. But that would require leaving David alone and The Spine was so tired. While he did not require sleep like humans did, a short stasis nap sounded good right now. He would talk to Steve more in the morning. Make sure they were ‘cool’. Clicking off his photoreceptors, The Spine trained his audio receptors to focus on David’s breathing before going into standby mode.

Just in case he was needed.

* * *

“And that’s what she told me, Sir.” Steve stood in front of Walter the 6th’s thick wooden desk. The sun was barely up, but Steve had not been concerned about waking Peter when he had come knocking at the door frame. Peter rarely slept and while the atmosphere in this room felt funny, it was not dangerous.

Peter let out a slow breath from behind his mask. While he had been unable to find any security footage, even with Michael's help, going back on the property would be a risk. Though if Carley was able to sneak away, she should be able to get back on the property, but that wasn’t the only problem.

Thornewood had been sold recently. Just within the last 24 hours to a buyer simply referred to on all documents as Mr. B. and that Mr. B was coming to look over his new property. B….probably some government cover up name. Peter mused to himself. Even with Steve volunteering to do the driving, it would take almost a full 18 hours to get there. Even with how Steve drove.

“Sir?” Steve spoke quietly and Peter looked up, forgetting for the past few moments that Steve was still at his desk, waiting for a command or reply.  

“Yes, I’ll take care of the details. Go wake Michael, then both of you, go wake the others. We need a family meeting. The sooner the better.”

Steve nodded, ‘Right away, sir.” he turned quickly on his heels and practically jogged out of the room heading towards the men’s bedroom area of the house.

Peter leaned back in his chair, the soft leather giving a creak. Things were starting to move quickly once more and he couldn’t help but wonder: Was someone else pulling the strings?

* * *

Carley woke early, creeping out of her bedroom and leaving Rabbit and Bunny to sleep in peace.  She made her way back to the laboratory and set to work repairing the systems in her arm. The damage here was easy to correct, thankfully.  Splice a wire here, bypass a circuit there.  It was quick and dirty, but she’d be able to have them properly seen to once she got home. 

She could feel The Spine on the Wi-Fi, shortly after she’d gotten the last of her circuits fixed.   Apparently they were calling some sort of meeting for the manor’s residents.  Perfect, she’d be able to slip away while they were occupied.

Or at least that is what she thought...until the surprisingly loud [Carley! Where are you!?] floated across the system. She planned to ignore it but Rabbit became frantic in her calling. [Carley! Please? Did we do something wrong?]

Carley sighed as she put the tools back where she’d found them. [I’m fine, Rabbit. I didn’t want to disturb you while I finished repairs on my arm.]

Rabbit sent another signal that Carley couldn’t quite decipher but then was quiet.  She looked at the clock at grimaced at how early the robots were active.  So much for getting out undetected.

She stepped out of the lab and nearly collided with Zero.

“Oh, hi Miss Carley!”  He smiled.  “Peter and Michael told me to come find you!  You need to come to the kitchen with me!”

“Uhm, I…”

Zero held out his hand. “Come on, we don’t bite!”

“Zero…”

“It’s nothing bad.  We all have to go.  Probably Peter wants us to all do something in the gardens.  That happens sometimes.”

Carley sighed, allowing Zero to take her cybernetic hand in his and lead her to the kitchen.  She was definitely not going to get out undetected.

By the time they’d arrived, the kitchen was bustling with half-asleep humans pouring coffee and mostly-aware robots trying to get water.  None of this was aided by GG jumping on and off of the countertops and table.

Michael and Steve were looking over some sort of map on their section of the table, with discarded coffee cups anchoring the corners down.

“Look who I found!” Zero cheerfully smiled, patting Carley on the back. All eyes turned to her and Carley wanted to hide. She was unused to this much attention.

“Oh good, Carley.” Michael said. “We were able to get a map of the grounds, but its missing parts. Any idea where your ship might be?”

Carley blinked, looking over at Steve who gave her a small smile. Did everyone know about her ship? Did they want to steal it? Should she lie?

Carley swallowed. “I...we landed on the west side of the grounds. My ship was still there when I left to come return the guitar.” Carley nodded towards The Spine who was preparing a cup of hot tea for David. The sleepy human, had bags under his eyes and mumbled a weak ‘thank you’. The Spine stayed right beside him, worried green optics looking into Carley’s eyes.

[David had a bad night….] The Spine texted over the network at Carley’s concerned medical look. Carley only nodded slightly.

Peter clapped his hands together, silencing the sleepy chatter. “Well then, we need to get you back to castle then. We cannot risk the government or any others who do not mean well getting their hands on your ship. Therefore, I propose to send you back to Thornewood with a few people to help you. The trip should not take more than two days by van, four round-trip. Steve is a wonderful driver, navigator, and quite good at being unseen.” Peter nodded towards Steve.

Peter continued, “Michael is the best engineer in the manor. If it’s mechanical and broken, he can fix it.” Michael blushed slightly. Praise was not often heard in the manor from Peter and every word was cherished.  

“Uh…” Carley tried to speak, but Peter kept going, not giving her a chance.

“And the last person I want to send with you is The Spine. I trust him with my life.” Peter turned his attention to the silver automaton. While Peter's praise made The Spine core flutter, he was not sure he wanted to return to the grounds of Thornewood Castle and he was sure he couldn’t leave David alone for four days.

“Sir…” The Spine started to say. “I...I do not think I can do that. I am sure Rabbit would be up for the journey.”

Peter sighed, “Spine, you know why I want you to be the one to go...but this is about David isn’t it?”

“Sir…” Carley tried again, but was again spoken over.

At his name, David glanced up from his cup of tea. “About me? Spine, I’m fine.”

The Spine stopped himself from disagreeing with his tired technician because David continued to speak, turning towards Peter VI. “I was wondering, sir...if perhaps, I could go too?”

David’s quiet request was immediately responded with a chorus of ‘No!’ mostly from Bunny, The Spine, and Steve. Everyone was talking at once and only hushed when Peter raised his hands before speaking. “David, why do you want to go back?”

David looked down into his tea cup. “Well, you want The Spine to go and he won’t go without me.” David offered.

“But David….” The Spine said, coming to rest a hand on the technician’s arm, feeling his gel pack, worried he was close to a panic attack.

“I need to see for myself...that this is all over. Please, Spine?” David’s brown eyes begged him. He needed to know Du Frank’s was gone, the collection was gone, and that everything was in the past.

“David...I….” The Spine frowned and shook his head. “It’s just not safe. You might not be safe. You might get hurt.”

“Wait, I have an idea.” Chelsea suddenly spoke up, drawing the attention of the room. “The blue matter defensive shield you made for me. David could use that. It would keep him safe in an emergency.”

“Go and get it, Chelsea.” Peter said with a wave of his hand. Chelsea hurried from the room.

“Does anyone here care to listen to what I have to say on the matter?” Carley interjected, pinching the bridge of her nose.

The chatter died down as everyone looked to her.   Peter sheepishly cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck.  “Of course, Miss Carley. Go right ahead.”

“Thank you.”  She sighed.  “Quite frankly, _none_ of you should go with me.  You have all more than repaid any debt you may have owed me by sheltering me these past few days.  All I managed to do was return a musical instrument, which, in all honesty, I only achieved by downright _terrifying_ half of your ‘family.’”  She paused long enough to take a deep breath.  “Risking your safety in this manner is not needed.  There will undoubtedly be danger along the way, and there is no way to be sure who or what may have gotten onto my shuttle while I’ve been gone.  This risk is far too great.”

For a moment, the room was silent before Michael spoke up. “That’s not how we do things here. We help those who help us out.  And Spine’s guitar is worth a lot more than you think it is.”

The Spine vented a bit of steam from his cheeks.  “Yes.  Much more.” Pappy had given it to him and that alone made it more valuable than a shipload of gold to The Spine.

“Even so.  I will not put you, or anyone in this manor, in jeopardy.  And, if I am being perfectly honest, I am unsure how you all even came to know about this.”  She said, shooting a pointed look at Steve.

The room went quiet again, until David’s tired voice fluttered through the room.  “You helped us out.  And....we want to help you.  There’s no catch, no ulterior motives.  We just want to help. It’s just how we do things here.”

“You should know about that.” Steve added.  “Helping like that.”  He held up his freshly bandaged hands.  “Even after all I said, how I treated you, you still took the time to help me.  You had no reason to.”

“That’s different...I’m a medic, it’s what I’m trained to do.  And there was no inherent danger in bandaging a few abrasions.”

“Well yeah, that’s true, but you had every reason to just shrug and leave me to my own devices.” Steve sighed.  “Look, we’re helping you.  Whether you like it or not.  Might as well just accept it, ‘cause if you leave without us, we’ll probably just follow you.”

Carley glanced around the room, logging the expressions on everyone’s faces and swallowed around a lump in her throat.  “Well.  When you put it that way…  I will allow you to accompany me there, though I still do not understand why.”

Peter clapped his hands, “Good now that it's settled. Let’s make some plans.” It took them most of the day to make plans. It was decided that they would take the band’s van, a seemingly inconspicuous cargo van. Without all the musical equipment it was quite roomy. There would be enough room to sleep if they didn’t mind close quarters for warmth. Somewhere along route planning, Michael and Steve had found markings for a rather lonely campground. It was determined that ‘Pine Shores’ would be the best place to stop for the night, it was a little over half way there.

“We are still looking at around 14 hours of driving before we can stop for the night, but Steve and I will switch out.” Michael said.

“I can drive too. I do have my license and all that.” David mumbled softly from his spot at the table.

“David, you aren’t going.” Bunny said, tapping his arm.  “You have a condition.”

“I’ll be fine!  Spine’s gonna be there.  We’re gonna be in a car most of the time and we’re heading north!  It’s gonna get colder, not hotter.”

“But what if you...you know…” Bunny asked, folding her arms over her chest.

“I won’t!  I haven’t had a bad episode in months.  I won’t say I’m cured, but I’m not completely useless, even with this.” David gestured to his arm band. He didn’t say anything about how much trouble he had sleeping last night. That wasn’t a waking nightmare, he just couldn’t get his brain to settle down...so he figured it didn’t count.

“David…” The Spine started.  “No one is saying you’re useless, but we don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Carley arched her organic eyebrow.  “As Mr. Negrete pointed out, I am a medic, and with my systems fully restored, I’d be fully able to handle any problems that may arise.”

David grinned, gesturing towards her. “See!  It’s not like I’m going on a two-day road trip by myself.”  He looked to Peter.  “I want to do this.  I need to do this.  Please.  I’m going stir crazy.” It was true. David barely left the manor anymore except to attend shows with the band and they did not have very many shows in the winter months. There was only so often he could pace the floor of the manor, even one as big as this.

Chelsea returned with her pendent handing it over to Peter. He turned it over in his hands. “Here, an extra measure of protection. This is how you activate it.” Peter demonstrated turning the blue core center orb a full rotation. Blue light danced around him. “In this field, nothing can touch you.”

Carley quirked up her eyebrow, running a passive scan on the device.  It was a simple force field generator, powered by the same type of unstable matter that had caused her to need such extensive implants in the first place.   But...it seemed to be quite stable here.  Even so, she stepped away from it.  If there was a discharge, there’d be no way to keep her alive this time.

“Deactivate it by reversing the steps.” Peter did so, the blue light shield vanishing. He handed the pendant over to David. “If you promise to wear this at all times and stay close to The Spine, I will allow you to join them.”

David slipped the pendant on. It was surprisingly light considering how large it was, just a few ounces. He felt the weight of the gold chain more than of the pendant. It was simply amazing. Only a Walters could have made something like this. “I promise sir.  I won’t take it off and I won’t leave The Spine’s side.”

Peter nodded satisfied. “Good. Once we finish planning and getting supplies we will be good to go. You’ll leave in the morning, the sooner the better. A spaceship is not something our government should particularly have right now. I’d rather they not find it.”

“Not to mention, it’d be a massive breach of protocol on my end.”  Carley muttered.  “There is technology on board that could artificially ‘jump-start’ your culture, and that’s a lifetime prison sentence for me.”

“Breaking the Prime Directive?” David asked, smiling.

“Pardon?”

“The...uh, it’s a concept introduced by a TV show here. Basically, it says that no spacefaring culture can directly interfere with the development of another, especially if that culture hasn’t achieved faster than light travel.”

“I…” Carley blinked.  “Yes.  That’s...not too far off from what we call our “General Order One.”  The only addition is that in order to make first contact, the planet has to have a unified government as well.   Although the two rarely do not coincide.  The unified government usually precedes FTL travel, but exceptions are common enough to have that little caveat.”

“What about us?  Since...we don’t have warp drive or hyperspace or whatever, will you get in trouble?”  Bryan asked, his brow furrowed.

“Not likely.  As intelligent as you all are, you’re a small group of individuals, and I haven’t actually given you any technology that surpasses what you already have.  The information on my implants wouldn’t count, seeing as you have three fully sentient androids walking around your residence.”

“What about me?! I’m sentient, too!” GG called from the countertop.

“Four androids.  My apologies, GG.” Carley bowed her head.  “In any event, the most that would happen would be a reprimand. But, with circumstances being what they are, I doubt that will occur.”

“Okay, meeting dismissed. Everyone get planning, packing or back to work.” Peter clapped his hands before turning on his heels and leaving the room. Chelsea and Camille followed closely already chatting about things going on in the other labs and needing his signature on things. People began to wander off. David moved to follow, already mentally planning what to pack when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.  
  
“David...a word?” The Spine said, giving a gentle pull on David’s shoulder, ushering him to the far corner of the room by the large French windows.  

“Something wrong, Spine?” David worried. The Spine had been quiet after the meeting, and David hoped he wasn’t hurting in some way.

The Spine bent his knees bringing himself face to face with his technician. “Are you really okay with going?” _I don’t want you to..._ The Spine thought.

David looked down for a moment, taking a deep breath. “No, I’m not, but...I need to go, Spine. I need to face these demons; to see for myself that it’s all over. Besides I’ll be with you. What could possibly happen?” David gave The Spine a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

The Spine ran a hand through David’s brown hair, eliciting a hum of delight from the human, before speaking again. “If you truly think you must go, then I will not stop you.” His voice was quiet and his fins slid out. The Spine wanted to stop him; to do anything to change David’s mind of coming.

“If it gets to be too much...I can always wait in the van.” David mumbled slightly. The Spine was very good at head scratches. The Spine smiled and stopped, David opened his eyes and gave a real smile this time. The Spine found himself smiling back.

He could live with that.

“Hey Spine!”  Steve called.  “Can you help move the sound equipment out of the van?  It’s a bit too much for me and Mike.”

“Of course, Steve.  I’ll be right there.”  He turned back to David.  “You...should go pack.  Just...don’t overwork yourself.”

“I won’t.  It’s just shoving some stuff into a gym bag, not moving houses.”

“Right.”  The Spine gave him a final pat on the shoulder before heading to join Steve and Michael.

David sighed and made for his room.  He was going to be hearing that for the entire trip and then some.

He’d only just started packing when he heard a knock on his door frame.  “David?”  Bunny’s voice called.

“Oh, hey!”  He smiled.  “What’s up?”

“I just wanted to check on you.  Make sure you’re not doing this for the wrong reasons.”

David’s smile dropped. “Come on, Bunny, not you too.”  He sighed, throwing a shirt at the bag.  “First Peter, then Spine, now you?”

“I’m just worried about my twin, David.”  She frowned, stepping into the room.  “I was _terrified_ when you were taken.  I don’t want something bad to happen to you again.”

“I’ll be fine!  I’ve been dealing with this thing for months now!  I can handle it.”

“That’s not what I meant.  You and all the others I can trust.  Even Carley, to an extent.  But...what about anyone else you come across?  What if someone who worked for this guy is still there?”

“You really think Spine would let something happen to me again?”

Bunny shook her head. “No.  But...what if you have one of your waking nightmares?  ”

“I won’t.”  David sighed, flopping down onto the bed.  “I haven’t had one in 4 months, Bunny.  Besides, we’re going north.  If anything, it’ll get colder, not warmer.”

“What if you get hurt?”  

“Carley’s a medic...and I know my own way around a first aid kit.  I’ll be okay.  I promise.”

Bunny pressed her lips into a thin line.  “I still don’t think this is a good idea…”

“Bunny.”  David stood up.  “I...I have to do this.  I need to.  I don’t know how, exactly, to explain it, but it’ll help me.  To see that it’s really all over.”

“It’s _been_ over, David.  There’s nothing left to see…”

“Yeah, I thought that too, then Carley showed up backstage.” David muttered.  “I’m going, Bunny.  End of story.”

Quiet tears slipped out from under Bunny’s dark lashes. David rubbed them away with his thumb. “Hey now. It’s not forever, sis. Just a few days. I’ll be back before you know it.”  
  
“Still hurts, I don’t like us being apart.” Bunny sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

David gave her a small smile. “I don’t either, but I won’t have any peace unless I see this to the end. That it’s really over. Please Bunny?”

“It’s feels so strange, not being part of a chapter in your life. I know I will never understand fully what happened to you and I don’t expect you to tell me but…” Bunny looked up at him. “I trust you. Just come back safe, okay.”

David brushed a quick kiss on his sister’s forehead. “I promise.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lullaby is an original composition by ClockworkCreation.
> 
> Please note the shaking uncontrollably when super tired/ exhausted does happen to me. Hence why it happens to David.  
> -CC


	6. Chapter 6

David watched the scenery roll by. They had been on the road several hours now and the sun was almost gone. It was going to be pretty dark by the time they stopped at the campgrounds for the night. David sighed and leaned his head against the glass. The lack of sleep from last night was catching up with him. In the back of the van, The Spine and Carley both seemed to be resting. At least they were quiet and the cargo van didn’t have windows back there so no one would see them. Steve was driving and Michael seemed to have fallen into a light sleep in the seat beside him.

“Kid?” Steve’s quiet voice pulled David from his thoughts. “You feeling hungry? We’re about to hit the last town for the next 60 miles or so. We could get fast food.”

David stretched. “Yeah...that would be nice.” While they had brought a cooler with hot dogs, buns, soda, water, David’s gel packs, and a few other things, something hot and right now sounded really good.

Steve smiled. “Give Sleeping Beauty a nudge and see if he wants anything.”

“I’m awake.” Michael mumbled slightly, stirring in his seat. “See if Carley wants anything.” He said to David. David loosened his seat belt slightly to turn around in his seat. “Hey Carley?” He called quietly, not wanting to startle her if she was sleeping.   

She cracked open her eyes, the blue glow from her cybernetic casting dull shadows across The Spine.  “Hm?”

“We’re gonna stop for hot food, in a drive thru, do you want anything?”

She stretched her organic arm and sat up.  “What kind of food?”

“Uh…” David pursed his lips.  “Which place are we hitting, Steve?”

“There’s a Wendy’s and a Starbucks on this side of the road.”

“Uh...okay, so Wendy’s has food like...mostly sandwiches? Y’know, a piece of beef or chicken between two pieces of bread?  And they usually have veggies on it, like...tomatoes or lettuce or whatever.  There’s also chicken nuggets.  Starbucks is mostly a coffee joint, but it's got some pastries and breakfast sandwiches too.”

Carley shrugged, trying to process all of the information.  “Whichever is most convenient.  I’m not picky.”

“May I request a bottle of water?” The Spine asked, having been pulled from stasis by the conversation.  “My boiler is a little low.”

“Sure thing, Spine.”  Mike nodded.  “Carley, there’s a menu for the drive-thru before we order. You can look and see if there’s anything tolerable.”

 She ended up practically sitting in The Spine’s lap in order to see the menu from the back of the van as Steve ordered and paid.

Soon the little caravan lapsed back into silence, save for chewing and drinking noises. Steve was the first to finish eating. “So we’ve got a couple more hours before we stop for the night and the next rest stop is 10 miles away, after that there won’t be one ‘til the campsite, so if anyone needs to pee, now is the time to speak up.”

David piped up between bites of chicken. “Yeah, I kinda need to.”

The Spine finished his water and checked his internal time before opening the cooler. “David, your arm please.” He said gently.

David sighed, The Spine had insisted on changing his gel pack every two hours. Whether it needed it or not.  “Spine, this one is still cool.”

“Arm please.” The Spine repeated and David sighed once more but held out his arm for The Spine to change the gel pack putting the old one back in the cooler to chill back down.

Carley arched her organic eyebrow.  The pack had only cooled by a few degrees.  But she chose not to say anything in favor of trying to figure out what to do with the starchy fried sticks that had come with her chicken sandwich.

Michael noticed her confusion. “Those are French fries.” He held up his own. “There made of potatoes, a root crop, and fried in oil and salted. Not super healthy, but tasty.”

“And… what is the preferred method of eating them?  A sandwich is self-explanatory, but these ‘fries’ are not.”

“You just pop ‘em in your mouth.” Steve said, shoving three of them into his own mouth as he spoke.  “Nothing special about it.”  He slurred around the food.

She shook her head and bit into one of the smaller fries.  It was, indeed, very salty and greasy, but not entirely unpleasant.   “It’s not what I am accustomed to, but I could get used to it.  Is it common for so many preservative chemicals to be used in your cooking?”

Mike snorted. “Yeah, pretty much.  Why?”

“I...it’s nothing.  I forget that your culture does not have molecular reconstruction technology.”

David turned around to look at her, eyes wide.  “You have _food replicators?_ ”

Carley nodded.  “There are areas that continue to use ‘home-grown’ foods, and spices are commonly grown in interior gardens per household, but the majority of our foodstuffs are automatically constructed from stored organic compounds.”

The Spine smirked. “You might want to pick your jaw up off the floor, David.” he teased.

David’s eyes had taken on a glazed over look but not from a nightmare, but from the spark of possibilities as a thousand and one questions raced through the young engineer’s mind.

Michael also smirked. “Don’t forget the ‘prime directive’ David, you can’t ask her about it.” He teased the young engineer.

David pouted, “What is this? Pick-on-David day?”  

Carley chuckled.  “You can ask all the questions you want, David.  There may be some I can’t answer, but General Order One only covers _giving_ technology or the means to create it.  Talking like this is acceptable.”

The Spine pulled his hat down over his optics. “Shouldn’t have said that Miss Carley.”

Before she had a chance to ask why, David launched questions at her, sometimes not even waiting for a full answer before asking the next question. It was suddenly very clear that the normally stoic David was indeed twin to the hyper Bunny. She had never heard a human talk this fast before, and his mind seemed to be working faster than his mouth.

Hours passed, David only pausing in his questioning, to go pee at the rest stop. Steve went with him to stretch his legs and Michael took over in the driver’s seat. Much to Steve’s dismay. David moved to the back seat, continuing to rapid-fire questions at Carley about her people’s culture and technology.

As the hours dragged on and night truly fell, David dozed off, leaning on The Spine’s warm chassis. Steve also seemed to be asleep as Michael finally slowed the van and made a turn off the highway. He rolled down the window and bright yellow light came in as he spoke to the camp attendant and paid for their spot for the night before slowly rolling along a bumpy, rock filled, dirt road.

The first big bump woke Steve and he rubbed at his eyes.

The Spine had put his arms around David when the road became rough and thus David had not been shaken awake. He was still sleeping, perhaps because of the lack of sleep last night.

Michael kept going until the little electric lamps and fire pits vanished behind him. “Okay. We’re here. We should be far enough from the main camping area that no one will see us.” He slowed the van to a stop.

Carley winced as she stepped out of the van.  She’d had no choice but to be cooped up with The Spine in the back of the van, and while her cybernetics could handle it, her organic muscles were very stiff.   

Even The Spine’s joints creaked slightly as he was finally able to stand again. Still cradling a sleeping David in his arms, he turned the brightness up on his photoreceptors, casting a dim green glow around them as Michael and Steve started pulling then tent and other gear from the back.

“Can I help?” Carley asked, grabbing a bag just before Michael lost his grip on it.

“Don’t suppose you got a lighter or something in that arm of yours?” Steve asked, patting down his pockets.  “Of all the things to forget.”

“I have a precision laser. Typically it’s only used for cauterizing wounds in emergency cases, but it should function as a fire-starter.”

Steve gestured to the lump of organic matter he had put into a pile. “If you wouldn’t mind.”

Carley took careful aim and easily ignited the sticks and pine needles. Soon a warm fire lit up the area. The Spine dimmed his optics down to normal. “David? David, I need to put you down now.”

David mumbled, but his eyes fluttered open and he yawned as The Spine set him down on his feet. Michael and Steve almost had the tent up. Pop up tents were so fast to assemble. “Grab the sleeping bags will you, Spine?”

The Spine did so but then a thought struck him. They hadn’t asked Carley if she would be alright sharing a tent. And females, at least human ones, tended to be sensitive about such things. He took the sleeping bags over and whispered into Michael’s ear. Michael went and talked to Steve and the three suddenly looked back at Carley.

“Um...Miss Carley….” Michael started, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

“Yes?” She looked up from where she had been watching the fire. David had taken a seat on the tailgate of the van. He liked the heat of the fire but knew he couldn’t get as close as he wanted. Even if the night air was chilly.

“We...sort of only brought one tent and um…” Michael looked towards Steve then The Spine for help.

“I am not sure about your world, but here we usually sleep divided by sexes when camping. Would you like the tent or the van?” Steve asked. While all three boys could not fit as comfortably in the van as they would in the tent, it was doable. Especially since Steve would be just as happy in the driver’s seat or on the ground by the fire, so long as it didn’t rain.

Carley shrugged, glancing from the tent and back again.  “I will sleep in the vehicle.  I have no wish to make you uncomfortable.”

“It’s not that we’re uncomfortable…I mean, is it...not a thing?” Steve asked.  “On your planet? To separate by gender?”

“Not really, no. Men and women are held to the same standards on Lekida.  The only thing that has a major gender difference is medical care, and even then it’s a grey area depending on how the individual prefers to be known.”

“You don’t have different clothes?” David asked.  “Like, a dress versus a suit?”

“Or maternity clothes?” Michael added.

“Those styles of clothing exist, but it doesn’t matter who wears them.” She stepped aside to let Michael set some sort of grate over the fire.  “And ‘maternity clothing’, as you call it, falls under the purview of medical accommodations.”

David snorted.  “Sounds like our culture could learn a thing or two from yours.  Or ten.”

“Maybe just a straight up transplant?” Michael teased.

“If I had the authority to offer you a chance to visit, I would.” Carley smiled, sitting down near the fire.  “Maybe once I get home…”

David raised his face to the sea of stars above them. “That would be so cool.” he said in a sleepy whisper. Carley and The Spine both smiled. They had heard him.

“David, time for bed.” The Spine said, walking over to where David was leaning against the van.

“Oh, come on, Spine, I just woke up and I’m not tired.” David held back a yawn. The Spine smirked at the obvious fib.

“Let the kid stay up for a while Spine. We’re about to make some food.” Steve said, blowing on the fire to get the coals just right.

It was late, close to midnight, but The Spine relented, after David ate he would insist he go back to sleep. They had the hardest part of the journey to face. Tomorrow they would be back at the castle.

Carley leaned back, bracing her weight on her arms as she regarded her companions.  They seemed kind, if a bit overprotective.  And a bit too trusting.   But they were good people.  A rarity compared to what their cultural database said.

Michael suddenly dropped a few disks of raw meat onto the grate over the fire. They began to sizzle and drip. “How do you want your burger done, Miss Carley?”

Before she could reply Steve added some meat tubes onto the grate as well. “We also have hot dogs if you prefer those.”

“Provided it is not raw, I have no preference.”

“I promise it won’t be raw, though Steve likes his very rare.”

Steve shrugged, “I like the soft texture.”

“I know you like your medium to slightly well done David.” Michael said, flipping a burger. “Unless you’d prefer a hot dog.”

“Can I have both?” David asked. He felt oddly hungry. Must be the cold mountain air.

“Sure, kid…” Steve replied, taking a cooked hot dog off and placing it on a bun.

David wrinkled his nose in slight annoyance. “I’m not a kid, Steve.”

“Er...actually David. You shouldn’t eat so much before bed. Just pick one or the other.” The Spine said. David gave him a strange look. The Spine had been starting to get on his nerves with all his overprotective actions. He was acting like an anxious mother hen. David sighed, and chalked it up to the stress of where they were going. “Just the hot dog would be great then.” Steve handed it to him and David turned to get the ketchup almost bumping into The Spine who already had it in hand.

“Say when.” The automaton said as he put a dancing line of red sauce down David’s hot dog.

“That’s...um... fine, Spine...thanks.” David shifted away, closer to the fire, feeling slightly smothered by everyone around him.

Carley offered the technician a look of confused sympathy.  Even Michael and Steve were watching The Spine with a measure of bewilderment.  She cleared her throat as a distraction. “What is that condiment?”

“Huh?  Oh it’s called ketchup.  It’s basically just sugar and tomato sauce.  There’s few other things in it but you can’t really taste it.” David explained, watching as The Spine kept looking over the tree line.

Carley hummed in thought before accepting a hotdog from Steve with quiet thanks.  She ate quietly while the humans jumped into a conversation about video games, most likely to distract themselves from the tasking for tomorrow.

David finished first, crawling into the tent to sleep with only a quick round of ‘goodnights’ after The Spine had insisted on changing his gelpack for him again.  Both Michael and Steve followed shortly after, leaving only her and The Spine awake.

The sat in silence for about an hour. The fire slowly dying down. “Beautiful, are they not?” The Spine asked, breaking the long silence.

Carley looked at him curiously and The Spine darted his optics back upwards. “The stars...there is nothing quite like the stars. Night always greets me with a sea of stars, but it’s never like this at the manor. Too much city light pollution.”

She looked up, and nodded.  “I suppose, although the novelty of stars has...worn off, for lack of a better term.  When you work in space, it becomes normal.  Stellar phenomena notwithstanding, I find more beauty in planet-side nature.”

A smile danced over The Spine’s features. “I suppose it would become common place after a long enough time but there is one thing I have found to be more beautiful than all the stars in the sky.” His optics drifted towards the tent entrance. “Humans. There is nothing in the world like humans.”

“Oh?”  She arched up her organic eyebrow.  “How so?”

The Spine vented some steam from his lips. It was starting to get rather cold. “I am not sure how to explain it. But every move, ever action, every feeling, thought, even the way they sleep. It’s beautiful. I never tire of watching them, of being with them. They have such short lives. Though I will admit, some are more… memorable to me than others.”

A twig snapping nearby got The Spine’s attention and he went quiet, his optics searching the tree line. While the chance of an attack was under 1%, he was still on guard. Thankfully nothing else about this location reminded him of war.

Carley quickly switched to infrared vision in her optical implant, scanning in the direction of the sound.  “An animal.” She said.  “A small, bushy-tailed mammal.  No humanoids in sight.”  She sighed.  “I’m going to try and rest, now.  Unless you’re in need of--”

“I’m fine. Go rest, I’ll keep watch.”

 Carley nodded entering the back of the van. She closed one door but kept the other open. It would be better to hear The Spine or if anyone called for her. The nest of soft blankets and pillows greeted her. She had not seen Michael put them down but he must have. Sighing, she crawled into the bedding. It was soft and warmed up quickly to her body heat. This was nice.

The next thing Carley knew there was a knocking on the metal door. “Miss Carley? Are you awake?” It was Michael's voice. “Breakfast is almost ready.”  

Her internal clock told her it was just a little after 5am, still rather dark outside and cold. “I’m awake.” She called out after only a moment. She stretched her organic limbs when suddenly David’s voice rang out.

“Steve! You’ve been holding out on us!”

Carley opened the door to see David trying to get a bag of something white and round looking out of Steve’s hands. “These are for victory s’mores and s’mores are not for breakfast.”

David pouted but then smiled. “So you're saying there’s chocolate and graham crackers hidden around here some place?”

Michael handed David a plate of what looked like smaller hot dogs to Carley and some kind of round piece of bread. “Eat, and Steve come eat too.”

“Where is The Spine?” Carley asked coming over to the fire. Michael also handed her a plate of food.

“He wandered down towards the river. He’ll be back soon. He doesn’t get out into deep forests like this much, so I think he just wants to take it all in.”

Carley shrugged, munching on the bread as she helped Michael pack back up for the rest of the drive, all the while keeping passive scan for The Spine.  David seemed to be in much better spirits and was helping move stuff around in the van.  Nothing too strenuous, especially since she’d gently asked if his gelpack was alright, but enough to make him feel useful again.

There was a chirping sound and David stopped loading to dig his phone out of his pocket. “Hi Bunny. No, I’m fine. Yes, everyone is good. Yes...Yes….more than you know...Yes. Actually no, not really. What?” David took the phone away from his ear. “She wants to talk to you.” he held the phone out towards Michael. “Hello...Yes Bunny. Yes Bunny. No Bunny...Yes Bunny, later today yes. What? Okay hold on.” he held out the phone towards Carley. “GG wants to talk to you.”

Carley took the device from David and positioned it against her ear like she’d seen. “Yes?”

“CARLEY!”

She jerked the phone away from her ear, wincing when the small giraffe screamed into the microphone.   Even David and Steve flinched.

“Carley! Why did you leave? You’re supposed to be my technician? Did I do something wrong? Bunny says I haven’t but I don’t believe her. Please come back! I’m sorry!” The little giraffe wailed into the phone. Carley could make out Bunny’s voice trying to hush and comfort her but it seemed to be helping little.

There was a fumbling noise and then Bunny’s voice came across the line. “Sorry Carley, I didn’t know what to do. She’s been like this all night.” Carley could hear GG still crying in the background but also now demanding the phone back.

Carley sighed, “Put GG back on Bunny. I have an idea.”

GG started shriek sobbing into the phone again. “GG. GG! Stop that and listen to me…” Carley shouted, waiting for the robot to calm down a bit. “I am not leaving because of anything you did or did not do. I’m going home...back into space. I’ve been away almost two years and I just want to go home. I need to go home. So please don’t cry GG.”

There was a loud sniff. “So it...really wasn’t me? You’re just homesick?”

“No GG, I thought you were lovely.” Another scream made Carley pull the phone away from her ear. “GG? GG!”

Bunny’s voice responded. “Whatever you said it worked. GG just pranced out of my room like the queen of the world.”

“Glad to be of assistance.” Carley went to hand the phone back to David when Bunny called her name, she placed the device back to her ear.

“Please look after my brother.” Bunny asked softly.

“I will.”

She handed the phone back to David, he returned it to his pocket. Steve wiped his brow. “Well the fire is out and everything’s packed. We can go as soon as The Spine gets back.”

“Speak of the devil.” Michael said as The Spine reappeared through the dense pine trees.

The Spine readjusted his hat. “Who’s a devil? Devilishly handsome perhaps.” he smirked at Michael but it dropped into a frown the moment he saw David going to lift the last sleeping bag. “Here David, let me do that.” The Spine moved to take the bag out of David’s hands.

The smile David had been wearing became a slight scowl. “It wasn’t heavy.” He mumbled kicking at the dirt. If he had needed help he would have asked. The atmosphere around the campsite had suddenly changed.

“Come on, we’re burning daylight.” Steve said breaking the tension as he climbed into the driver seat.  Michael sat shotgun, David behind him and once more The Spine and Carley were in the back of the cargo van. The doors closed, the engine turned over and they began the slow and bumpy trip out of the campgrounds.

* * *

It was late afternoon when they reach the long road that would lead to Thornewood Castle. The van had gone quiet the closer and closer they had come to their destination. Steve pulled off into the first grove of trees he could find. “Well boys, girl, and bot. Now the ‘fun’ starts.” he said, though his voice held no humor.

Michael narrowed his eyes as Steve began to roll up his sleeves. “You brought those with you?” he asked, as Steve snapped on the gold bracers from the last time they were here.

“Wouldn’t leave the manor without them...I trust you’re packing too?” Steve’s well trained eyes moved to Michael's pocket as he nodded. His blue matter displacement gun close at hand. Peter had tweaked it a little. Now it would take down more than just green matter robots. “Though I don’t intend to use it.”

Steve’s eyes darted up and down the little road, taking on a hunter’s gleam. They were still 2 miles from the outer grounds. “So how do we want to do this?”

“Actually before we start on foot, something has been bothering me.” Michael turned in his seat to face the back of the van. “Miss Carley, that compound you told us about. Would it still be here on the property?”

Carley shrugged. “It should be, unless your government found it. I can scan for it when we get closer.”

Michael nodded, “Good, because if it is here. We have to destroy it.”

David blinked, suddenly very aware that everyone seemed to know what this compound was that Michael was talking about. “What are you talking about? What compound?”

“Nothing for you to worry over David.” The Spine said quickly dismissing the human’s questions.

David narrowed his eyes in annoyance and huffed out a breath but said nothing at The Spine’s quick dismissal. He was being kept in the dark about something, that much was clear. He needed to trust The Spine...but last time he was kept in the dark about something he wound up with a badly sprained wrist.

Carley started running scans with her eye as they climbed out of the van.  Aside from the local fauna, there weren’t any signs of life in the area.   The Spine was speaking quietly to David, but she was far too focused on her scans to pay attention.  She was glad she’d borrowed a dark, long-sleeved shirt with a hood from Bunny.  It would make sneaking around a bit easier than her white medic’s tunic. 

She walked a few steps away from the van and ran an infrared scan.  “We seem to be alone for the moment, but I suggest we move quickly.  I believe it is the brightest phase in your lunar cycle tonight and I’d rather avoid being seen.”

Steve looked towards the sky. “A full moon is not what we need. We got maybe half an hour of solid twilight before the moon crests those mountains over there.” he gestured with his hand.

“Miss Carley, I am afraid we are going to rely on you and The Spine to see us through these woods. We can’t risk flashlights.” Michael said, the pinks of sunset slipping deep into purples. Night came fast in the mountains.

“No Spine! I don’t want to wait in the van.” David’s rather loud voice drifted to the others.

Carley glanced over to them, arching her eyebrow as Michael and Steve shared a glance.

The Spine’s back fins were out, steam drifting off them. Carley wasn’t sure if he was steaming more or if it was just more visible in the chilly air. “David, it’s not safe. Please get back in the van.”

David scowled. “No I won’t just get back in the van! I came to see this through Spine. I _need_ to see this. That it’s over. Really, truly over.”

The Spine hissed with steam. How could he tell David it would never be over? That the damage done to him was permanent and no amount of care would be able to fix him. “...please David. Wait in the van.”

David shook his head. “No, I won’t…” David dropped his voice. “Besides what if something finds me? You guys might be longer than you think.” It was a low blow and David knew it.

The Spine snapped his head up immediately searching the area. Everything was quiet but he knew from past experiences how quickly that could change. Venting steam from his neck, he relented. “Alright but you _stay_ right by my side.”

It was a command...even when Du Franks had them trapped, The Spine never commanded him. He’d sometimes strongly suggested David do something for his own safety, but never had he commanded him. It shook David and he meekly nodded, not trusting his voice.

Michael and Steve shared a deeply concerned look but they both pushed it away quickly as The Spine and David came to join them.

Carley shook off the mounting unease as they started pick their way through the forest.  Carley kept up a constant passive scan, watching for any signs of life outside of birds and small mammals.

Even with her and The Spine’s night vision, it was still a bit difficult to maneuver, especially since The Spine kept veering off the most efficient path in search of ‘easier routes.’

Michael had eventually snapped at the android to stay on track, but now he was venting enough steam to give away their position.  

Carley sighed, calling for them to stop.  “The Spine, are you damaged?  Is something wrong?”

The Spine stopped. “I should have refilled my boiler.” was all he said before glancing at David. The human hadn’t spoken a word to anyone since they left the van.

“I swear sometimes you bots just want to break down. Here Spine, take mine.” Michael frowned slightly before tossing The Spine his water bottle. At least he had the forethought to bring water on this little hike. “Drink it all and cool down. We need to get your steam under control before someone sees it.”

The Spine drank the water down. His boiler was not completely full but close enough that there would be little risk.

“Let’s take a short break. Five minutes, we’ll get out bearings and then move out.” Steve suggested. While Michael and The Spine had been talking David had sat on a tree stump looking rather pale. He moved over to David. “You feeling okay?” he whispered.

David nodded. “Yeah….yeah I’m okay.”

Steve patted his shoulder, not fully believing him as Michael called him over to where he and Carley were. They still had half a mile to go to reach the manicured lawns of the castle.

She was leaning against a tree, watching as David continued to sulk and The Spine’s ever-present cloud of steam began to dissipate.  They were still a ways out, but she’d yet to detect any sign of sentient life.  Even being this far away should’ve warranted _some_ security.  She chewed on her lip as Michael joined her.  “Need anything? Water or…”

“I’m alright for the moment.  Let’s just keep moving, once your android and technician are ready.”

David pushed off the stump. “I’m fine. Let’s go.” As soon as he moved forward The Spine straightened up and stepped to his side. David tried not to sigh as they continued. The trees were getting thinner and the castle was starting to peek through the forest. The moon was rising, casting a bright blue glow over the landscape around them.

Carley kneeled at the edge of the tree line, using a large oak as cover while she ran a scan.  “Something’s wrong.  I’m detecting...chemical signatures at key structural points on the complex.  They were not here when I left.”

“What kind of chemical signatures?” Michael asked, joining her.

“I am unsure, but…” She rattled off the names of some compounds even as she began to cross reference them with her own database.

“C-4.”  Steve offered.  “That’s C-4.  Somebody rigged the place to explode.”

“A fitting end.”  Carley muttered.  “There still does not seem to be any lifesigns.  We’re in the clear if we move quickly. My shuttle is in the forested area across the grounds.  If we stay close to the buildings, we can use the shadows for cover.”

“Won’t...won’t we set off the bombs?” David asked.

Steve shook his head, “C-4’s inert by itself.  Won’t explode until it's told to.  Movement won’t trigger it.”

“Oh.  Right, I’ve watched enough Mythbusters, I should’ve known that.”

The Spine vented a bit of steam from his neck.  “There could be tripwires.”

“The place has been empty for almost a year, Spine.  Whoever is wiring this place up probably isn’t expecting anyone to actually _come back._ ” Michael sighed.

“Either way,” Carley interrupted.  “We need to move.  It’s essentially a straight line around the back of the complex from here.”

They waited until a cloud passed over the moon to dart to the first wing of the mansion.  Carley had disabled all of her running lights and had pulled up the hood to mask her face as much as possible, leading the charge towards her ship.

She was so close to going home.  She could practically taste her mother’s stew made with home-grown _gowra_ seeds.

The Spine, bringing up the rear, was the most obvious of the bunch.  All the dark clothing in the world couldn’t mask the fact that his skin was a shining silver alloy.  Or that he stood a good foot and several inches above the humans.

Michael and Steve were quiet, forming the middle of their little group along with David, keeping the unarmed technician safe.

The group darted from wall to wall, shadow to shadow, crossing the estate’s grounds in around 15 minutes.  Most of which was spent by David peering through the windows, absorbing the broken glass and furniture, torn window dressings, and water damaged books and rugs.  Everything was broken in some fashion.  Nothing had survived.

Except them.

It was Steve who had to prompt the technician to keep moving, as even The Spine seemed to be just… processing the decrepit state of the mansion.

As they reached the opposite tree line, Carley could barely contain her excitement.  Nearly an entire Lekidan cycle stranded on this planet were finally coming to an end.  She’d go home and spend some time with her family, then get back to work helping those who needed it.  “My vessel shouldn’t be far from here.  That last door we passed was the same hatch we used to enter.” She allowed a smile to cross her face as they stepped into the cover of the trees.  “I can’t thank you all enough for your help.”

Michael snorted.  “All we did was drive you here. And run around in the woods.”

“And shock your systems into oblivion.” The Spine muttered.  

“You proved that there are some...good people left on Solterra. There’s still a chance for this world.”  Carley smiled.  “Somethings may be a bit backwards...fully sentient androids and AIs don’t normally appear on a planet before FTL travel… but if you are willing to help someone with nothing in return...then there’s hope.”

“Glad someone thinks so.” Steve sighed.

“Come on, let’s get you home, Carley.” David smiled.  “Before someone shows up.”

“Agreed.  I’ll even give you all a ride back.  You won’t have to be stuck in a cramped cargo hold, Spine.”

“We get to ride in a spaceship?” David beamed.  “Awesome!”

“Won’t that break your prime directive order thing?” Steve asked.

“What the L’Tarra Council doesn’t know won’t hurt them.”  Carley grinned, starting off into the trees, taking the risk of activating her eye-light as they went.  She couldn’t help but break into a jog as she passed a distinctly shaped tree that Jetanian had laughed at when they first came (she blocked out the memory of his body hitting the floor in front of her and Hanchon.)

“Not far now, it’s right--” She stopped, dead in her tracks.  Steve skidded to a stop behind her, grabbing Michael by the arm as he nearly tripped.  The Spine grabbed David to steady him as they all stared at the space where Carley was looking.

 

There wasn’t a ship.  There wasn’t even anything that could be considered salvage of a ship.

All that remained was a small crater, with a pile of once-melted slag at the bottom.


	7. Chapter 7

“No, no…” Carley whispered.  “It…”

“What happened?” Michael rubbed the back of his neck. Steve exhaled loudly, leaning against a tree while The Spine peered over the edge of the crater.

“It’s gone...it's…”  She could barely speak.  “My only way home… is gone…” Tears formed in her organic eye and spilled over.  All this effort, all this trouble, had been for nothing.

She sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around herself and covering her mouth to try and stave off the sobs that threatened to break her composure. “Someone must have found it...tried to force their way in… activated the automated self-destruct.” She continued to look at the gaping hole in the ground. “It’s over. There’s no chance for me to get home now.”  She bit her tongue to stop herself from breaking down.

Michael put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Come back to the manor with us. We won’t leave you here. Not now, not alone.”

Carley looked up at him, about to disagree, when The Spine stepped forward. “Michael’s right. We won’t abandon you.”

David shivered from the cold night. “And we won’t leave without you.” he said firmly from his place next to The Spine.

Carley wiped at her eye and got to her feet. “No.  You’ve done enough, I’ll never be able to repay your kindness as it is.  I’ll find some way to carry on alone.”

“You don’t owe us anything, Carley. I just wish there was a way to get you home.” Michael sounded so sad as he spoke, filled with empathy for their newfound friend.

Carley stood, dusting herself off. “You...you mean this, don’t you?  You...actually want me to stay?”

“We do.” David said.  “We can keep you safe. We’re...pretty isolated, all things considered.  And there’s already plenty of weird antics around the Manor that no one would look twice at a cyborg.  We’ll just say you’re a new Walter Worker.”

Michael nodded.  “It’s actually easier, seeing as you basically look like a buff human woman.”

“With cybernetic augmentations. And who doesn’t quite understand all of your slang or culture.”  Carley muttered.

“You’ll get the hang of it.” The Spine offered.  “Zero only woke up recently, he’s still learning.  I’m sure he’d be happy to learn alongside you.”

“My accent seems to be offensive.”  She added.

Michael and David shared a look before David sat down beside her.  “I...wasn’t offended by your accent, Carley.  I...panicked ‘cause you sounded like....like… the man who....” David trailed off, rubbing at the fabric around his arm.

“Donatu.”

“Yeah, him.” David nodded.  “I don’t mind your speech. Honestly, it sounds like a Russian accent.  It’s a bit strange to hear at first, but it’s not _bad._ ”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“You won’t.” The Spine said, placing a silver hand on her cybernetic shoulder.  “We’ve been through worse.  More than you might think.”

Carley looked around at the group, wiping the last few tears from her organic eye as she stood.  “Alright...I’ll stay...for now… let’s...let’s just get out of here.” There was nothing left here for her now. The little group turned to head back to the van when David realized they were one short.

“Where’d Steve go?” David asked and the group looked around. The sound engineer was nowhere to be seen in the little grove of trees.

“Spine, Carley.” Michael said.

“On it.” They replied in tandem, The Spine activating his night vision and Carley her infrared.

“One lifesign, headed for the Castle.  Biometrics match Steve.” She spoke, dimming her eye-light to face Michael.  “Do you know why he’s going there?”

“Not a clue, but we’d better follow.”

The Spine once again practically glued himself to David’s side as Carley and Michael lead the way back to the mansion.

“What’s he doing?” Michael hissed.

“I cannot be certain, but he’s the only other lifesign aside from ourselves.”

“Can we risk avoiding the shadows?”

“I believe so.” Carley nodded just as the broke through the tree line.

Michael broke into a sprint, leaving the other three to dart across at their own paces.  He rounded a corner and caught Steve by the arm.  “You nuts?”

Steve whirled around, stopping himself just shy of punching his friend square in the jaw.  “Christ, man, don’t scare me like that.”

“Maybe don’t run off like that without saying something.  What were you thinking?”

“Man, you know I suck with emotional stuff.  She was crying. Besides, did you forget that there’s still a cache of this Draconis torture drug here? We gotta get rid of it” Steve hissed.

Michael sighed, letting go of Steve’s arm and glancing to the broken window they were near.  “Just...say something next time, alright?”

Carley and The Spine caught up to them, The Spine carrying a rather annoyed David.  “What is it? What happened?” He asked, setting the technician down and frowned when he moved several steps away.

“We’re gonna try and get rid of that cache of the compound we talked about.” Michael said, wrapping his fist in his sleeve and pushing the shards of broken glass out of the window frame.

“What compound?” David asked.

“It’s nothing important, David.” The Spine shook his head.  “Try not to be concerned.”

“Bull.” David spat, folding his arms over his chest.  “It’s very clearly important, and I don’t care for being left in the dark.  I’m not a child.”

“The compound in question is called Draconis.” Carley offered.  “It’s the drug that was used on you.”

The Spine hissed out a cloud of steam as he whipped his head around to glare at her.

Carley paid him no mind.  “It needs to be destroyed before it can be used on anyone else.  It’s one of the reasons my team and I were sent here in the first place.”

David nodded, calmly taking in this new information.  “Okay.  How do we do that?”

Michael and Steve shared a look, both of them realizing that neither of them knew if they had something that _could_ destroy it.

“My bracers are powerful enough to melt them.” Steve spoke, tapping the metal on his wrist.

Carley nodded. “That will do. Vaporization would be preferable, but I was unable to locate my weapon or Jetanian’s explosives after the breakout.”

“Should’ve brought Rabbit along.”  Michael mumbled.  “Her flamethrower would probably be helpful.”

“I can manage.” Steve added, patting Michael’s arm.

“This Draconis stuff...is it airborne?”  David asked. 

“No.  It must be injected to be effective.”

“So there’s no risk to me or Michael and Steve if we go in there?”

Carley shook her head, “Medically speaking: No.  You cannot be any more infected than you already are, nor can they be infected just by being near it.”

David nodded.  “Let’s go then.”

The Spine reached for his arm. “David, perhaps you should--”

“Spine, if you say ‘wait out here,’ I’m going to scream. Literally scream.” David practically growled, prompting Carley to arch her eyebrow.  “I’m going in with you guys, end of story.  I’ll be fine.”

“We should make a decision quickly.” She interjected.  “While there are no lifesigns near us, I do not care for being out in the open like this.”

The Spine hissed out a cloud of steam as David let Michael and Steve boost him through the window before following.  “This is a bad idea…” He mumbled, waiting for Carley to climb through before retracting his fins and joining them.

Cold, the castle was so cold. Colder than the night air outside. Or perhaps it was just the feeling in the air from being back in this place. David shivered slightly. He had not seen this room but judging from the mess and items on the floor it must have been some kind of art studio. This was confirmed a moment later when he spotted the overturned and half-finished oil painting of Du Franks and his mother.

He made a point to stomp on it as they crept out of the room and into the hallways. The Spine noticed David’s actions but said nothing. This place, every sound seemed to echo along the abandoned walls. So much unhappiness and pain here.

“Are you getting anything, Carley?” Michael whispered.

Carley looked at him strangely and spoke normally. “It’s here, several floors below us. There should be emergency steps hidden right about here.” She struck a wall and a panel slide away revealing a long staircase down into the dark.

“I think we can risk the flashlight now.” Michael said pulling his compact but bright light out of his back pocket. “Miss Carley, could you lead the way? We don’t know where we are going.”

Carley nodded as they began to make their way, down, down into the deep dark.

David was shaking slightly and The Spine noticed. “David it's not too late, we can turn back.”

“I’m just cold Spine. That’s all.” But David wouldn’t make eye contact. The second lie in less than a day. David never lies to him and yet now two fibs in less than 24 hours. The Spine shook his head, unable to understand David’s desire to see this to the end. Perhaps it was one of those human things that he never understood, not fully.

Carley stopped at a thick metal door.  It was partially ajar and easy for her to open. The metal screaked on its hinges and as light fell into the room something silver flashed on the back wall. A pair of cuffs. David knew this place. He froze to the spot.

Carley sucked in a breath.  “They would keep it here.”  She muttered, steeling herself to step inside.  “I’ll warn you all, this room is...not pleasant to think about.” 

Michael and Steve stepped in after her, both of them swearing under their breath as they took in the cuffs and chains and other painful looking items.

Carley fought back the rising nausea as she tried not to think about how Hanchon had bled out only feet away from her.

The Spine noticed David’s hesitation, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.  The technician didn’t shrug him off this time, instead he inched closer to him.  “Are you alright?”

“No.” David whispered, nodding his head towards the cuffs on the wall.  “Tear those down, please.  I won’t ask for anything else from you, but please…” His voice was soft, trembling with vulnerability.  “Spine, please tear them down.  Destroy them.”

The Spine gave David’s shoulder a gentle squeeze before moving into the room, his own mind conjuring up images of rooms he’d seen in Vietnam, but he quickly shoved them down.

He walked over to the stone wall and laid his hand on the first cuff. The band of steel had held David while he was tortured and possibly dozens of others. The Spine closed his hand around it and with almost no effort, he tore the first cuff from the wall, breaking off bits of stone with it. He turned slightly, making sure David could see as he crushed the cuff in his hand, making it nothing more than a lump of twisted and condensed metal. He repeated the process with the second cuff.

Both Michael and Steve turned at the sounds of crushed metal and stone, but they chose not to say anything.

Carley chewed her lip.  The destruction of the cuffs was a small comfort, a small amount of revenge for Hanchon’s death, but she could only imagine it meant more to David.   With the remnants of the cuffs on the floor, she turned to glance at the younger technician.  He was pale and looked ready to throw up, but he was still standing.  She moved next to him, gently touching his forearm with her organic arm.  “You don’t have to stay in this room.” She offered.  “I don’t think anyone would think less of you if you wanted to leave.”

“N-no.  I need to see this through.”  He whispered, swallowing down a lump in his throat.

“As you wish.” She turned and cleared her throat.  “Steve.  These cases over here.”  She gestured to a stack of four heavy briefcases.  “This is our target.”

“That’s all?”

“Don’t be fooled.  There’s enough here to subdue an entire city.”

“Jesus Christ.” Michael sighed.  “Hey Spine, you and David better step back, just in case.”

After moving a few feet back The Spine stood in front of David to shield him. Just in case something went wrong. Steve was closest to the box and with a flick of his wrist a pale, sticky goo shot out and covered the top and side of the crate. Steve was quietly counting down the seconds as the goo suddenly burst into white hot flames eating into the wood. The sound of glass cooking off and breaking could be heard between the hungry crackling of flames.

“That should just about do it.” Steve said with a smile.

“So it’s over, right?” David asked. His friends nodded. “I’m so glad.” David’s legs suddenly gave out and he dropped to the floor. He was still awake, but his body felt numb, unable to hold his weight.

The Spine easily picked David up into his arms, cradling the human to his chest. David weakly protested but The Spine ignored him. “I think it's time to leave.” The automaton announced. The sooner they got away from this horrible place, the better.

Steve nodded and turned to lead the way out before pausing.  “Shit...Mike…”  He pointed to the corner of the room. 

Sitting on a tripod was a deactivated camera, pointed at the place where the cuffs had been.  David sucked in a breath and hid his face against The Spine’s chest. 

Michael shook his head, and pulled out his sidearm, and destroyed the camera with a well-placed shot.  “Now we just need to get rid of the rest of the footage.”

“Du Franks probably had it stored in his main computer hub.” The Spine offered, remembering when he’d been made to sing for several online chats.  He suppressed a shudder, only hoping that that particular footage hadn’t been archived.

Steve nodded, grimacing at the pile of plastic and electronics.  “Can’t believe the sick bastard recorded this shit.” He swallowed and turned towards The Spine.  “Lead the way, I’ll probably be able to erase any incriminating evidence.”

“That’s already been done.” Carley spoke, pushing at the ashes of the Draconis cases with her foot.  “I erased any footage of you or your companions long ago, when I first made it here.  The only remaining copy that exists is on my internal hard-drives.  And, to be quite blunt, there isn’t a Human that is capable of breaking the encryption on it.  Especially when I am able to change the key with a single thought.”

“But...why?”  Michael asked. “I can see you erasing footage of you or your team, but why us?”

“You didn’t realize it at the time, but you’d freed me.  Ensuring that your government would not retaliate against you was one of the only ways I could repay you at the time.  I hadn’t found your guitar by that point.”  She looked to David, who’d been silent since he’d collapsed.  “But the rest is a story for another day.  We should leave as quickly as possible.”

“Agreed.” The Spine nodded, leading the way out, ready to leave this horrible place behind for good.

They’d made it back to the art studio when Carley held up her hand.  “Hold.”  She ordered.  “Spine, do you hear that?  An ultrasonic, low volume beeping?”

The Spine quirked up his eyebrow and adjusted his audioreceptors.  “David, I need to set you down for a moment.  Can you stand?”

David nodded, but said nothing, standing with his arms wrapped around himself.

Michael and Steve glanced to each other.  “I don’t hear anything.” Steve said.

“I don’t think you’d be able to.  My organic ear isn’t picking it up, only my augmented one.” Carley explained.  “It’s coming from the northwest corner of the room.”

“I hear it.” The Spine nodded.  “Wait here.”  He moved closer, clicking up the brightness on his photoreceptors.

“Be careful.  It’s near one of those explosive charges.”  Carley warned.  “You three should keep moving.” She glanced at Michael and nodded towards the window.

Steve and Michael shared a concerned look before helping David back out the window, then climbing out themselves, but not leaving.

“I can’t find anything, Carley. I’m not equipped with a chemical sensor.”  The Spine straightened up.  She joined him, illuminating the package of explosive in the blue of her eye-light.

Both of them froze for only a moment as they saw what was causing the beeping.

A timer.

With only 23 seconds left on it.

“MOVE.”  The Spine ordered, grabbing Carley by her cybernetic arm and spinning her around.  “NOW!”

She wasted no time sprinting to the window and diving out of it, using a combat roll to get to her feet quickly.  “Run, all of you.  There’s no time to explain.”  She gasped as The Spine climbed out, hauling David into his arms and sprinting for the van.

Michael and Steve didn't ask anything, but they ran.

“Spine?! What’s going on, what’s wrong?” David asked.

The Spine couldn’t answer.  His knew in his core that there wasn’t enough time.

A yelp from Michael startled him and he looked back.  The head engineer had tripped and fallen.  Carley quickly turned on a dime, digging her heels into the dirt hard enough to leave a mark, and ran back to him, helping him to his feet.  She shared a brief moment of eye contact with The Spine.

Both of them knew there wasn’t enough time.

David suddenly pushed against The Spine’s chest and squirmed, effectively dropping himself from The Spine’s grip.  “STEVE!” He shouted, slapping away The Spine’s hands as the automaton frantically tried to get ahold of him. “STEVE, OVER HERE!”  He shouted, jogging back to Carley and Michael.

“What are you doing?!” Michael shouted, holding his ankle.  “Get out of here!”

Steve joined them, ready to grab David by his arm and haul him back to The Spine himself, but David beat him to it, grabbing the sound engineer’s shirt and all but throwing him into Michael and Carley.  “Hey!”

The Spine grabbed a hold of David, ready to yell at him, but it was too late.  He could see the electricity sparking across the wires connecting the charges.

“Hold onto me!”  David called, grabbing The Spine’s arm and tugging him close to the group, grabbing the device around his neck.

And then,

 

Fire.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is best experienced if you listen to "Fire Fire" immediately after it. -SE


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I've made you folks wait long enough with that cliffhanger. Enjoy Chapter 8! - SE

David’s ears rang.  He’d managed to cover one, but he still couldn’t hear over the high pitched ringing. He gripped the pendant of Chelsea’s necklace in his hand, its shimmering protective blue field shielding the group from the worst of the explosion.

Both Steve and Michael had ducked, covering their heads on instinct.  Michael had grabbed Carley and pulled her to the ground, and she’d covered her own ears.

The Spine had completely disabled his audioreceptors at the explosion, shifting his position at the last moment to try and shield the humans as much as possible.

Carley was the first to open her eyes, sitting up on the grass and taking in the pile of smoking rubble that had once been the building.  “Goddess above…”  She turned and took Michael’s arm.  “Are you alright?”

“What?”  His voice was loud and he was shaking his head.  “I can’t--”

Carley shook her head, running a quick scan of the humans.  The force field around them had protected them from any permanent damage, but it’d take a few minutes for their hearing to recover.  Her own organic ear was ringing.

The Spine quietly re-enabled his audioreceptors and knelt by David, who was still clutching the pendant.  His fins slid out to vent steam as he gently pried the technician’s fingers off of it and disabled it.  “David?  David, can you hear me?”

David finally cracked open his eyes, letting his jaw fall open when he saw what was left of the mansion.  He shook his head and rubbed at his ears as Carley helped him stand.

“Spine, we need to move.  Whoever triggered the explosion will likely be moving in to clean up the mess.”  She spoke, throwing Michael’s arm over her shoulder and helping him limp towards the van.   Steve took only a moment to take up a position on the other side of the head engineer.

The Spine nodded and gently took David’s arm to guide him, but the technician pulled away. “I can walk.”  He said, despite the slight tremor in his body.   “I’m fine.”

“I’m only trying to help.”

“I said I’m fine!”  David said, a bit too loud as he picked up Michael’s fallen sidearm.  He spared the ruins one last glance before walking after Carley, leaving The Spine to bring up the rear.

They made it to the van by simply following the road, not worrying about trying to retrace their steps through the woods, not with Michael unable to walk.  Carley helped Michael into the back seat and used some of the blankets and pillows to prop up his ankle while The Spine climbed into the back, handing Carley whatever she called for from the first aid kit.

David had thumped down into the passenger seat, and Carley handed him a fresh gelpack while she literally taped the one cold-pack and cold soda cans to Michael’s ankle.  

As soon as she’d relaxed from taking care of Michael, David started laughing. It started as just a chuckle, but quickly evolved into full-on, contagious belly laughter. “We’re alive!”  He called out to no one in particular as both Steve and Michael began to laugh as well.  Even Carley couldn’t stop herself from allowing a few giggles to escape.  They laughed and laughed for several minutes before they began to calm down, and even as Steve started the engine and began to drive away, they were all still giggling.

Steve turned one the main road, they hadn’t even gone a mile before several fire trucks and rescue vehicles raced passed heading towards the castle. Steve let out a breath. They were lucky. They really had not had any time to spare.

David was still giggling a bit from beside him. The kid seemed to be slightly off, but not enough to worry the sound engineer too much. They had just lived through a massive shock, they were all bound to be a little weird.

“Does Mike need a hospital?” Steve asked as they drove along.

Carley shook her head. “It’s a bad sprain but nothing is broken.”

“I won’t be able to help you drive back, Steve. I’m sorry.” Michael said from the back of the van.

Steve gave a half shrug, “I’ve done long road trips on my own before. But I can try and find us a closer place to spend the night if you want?” David already seemed to be nodding off next to him. Without any more adrenaline pumping through him and the strong emotional release, his body was slipping into exhaustion.

“Keep to the plan if you can. It might not be safe finding another campsite.” Michael said sounding suddenly very tired.

Steve nodded and the van lapsed into quiet. “Hey Spine?” Michael said quietly after a few minutes.

The Spine looked over. “Yes Michael? Are you in pain?” He was whispering. David was asleep and snoring slightly.

Michael shook his head, “No, but I’m almost asleep here. Can you talk to Steve for a while? Try and keep him awake.”

The Spine nodded. “Yes, of course. Hey Steve, so about the upcoming show….”

Michael fell asleep to the sound of The Spine and Steve chatting.

The duo chatted for an hour or so before The Spine began to run out of things to talk about. Suddenly Steve slowed down and pulled over to the side of the highway. They still had a ways to go before they reached the campgrounds from last night. “Hand me a bottle water will you Spine?” He whispered while digging around in the glove box, careful not to wake David.

The Spine pulled out a bottle from the cooler and held it out while Steve fumbled with a pill bottle. “Steve, what are those?”

Steve put one in his mouth and took the water from The Spine, swallowing the pill before replying. “A No Doze, you know: a caffeine pill? I’m half asleep up here.”

The Spine simply nodded. While he didn’t like anyone in the house taking unnecessary medications, this was needed. They must get as far away as they could.

Steve pulled back on the road and they continued. It was around 2am when Steve pulled into the camp area and handed the all night attended cash for a spot for the night. Bumping and thumping along the road, Steve took the same spot as the night before. Oddly enough no one had woken when Steve stopped. He turned off the engine and turned towards The Spine. “Spine, you still awake?”

His audio receptors registered his name, pulling The Spine from his light stasis. In the dark, he turned up his optic brightness slightly, bathing the back of the van in a pale green light. “I am awake. Is something wrong?”

“We’re here. Could you hand me two blankets and a pillow? I don’t feel like setting up the tent.”

The Spine did so and Steve covered David with a blanket before settling down in his own seat. “You okay to keep watch?” He whispered to the automaton.

“Yes, of course. Sleep well, Steve.”

Steve was asleep in less than a minute, leaving The Spine in silence with his thoughts.

Or at least, he thought he was in silence, until Carley shifted next to him.  She wasn’t asleep, but hadn’t moved or spoken since she’d finished tending to Michael.  Instead, she was just...staring at the wall of the van.

The Spine brow furrowed as he watched her.  She was still breathing, but her eyes were unfocused, like David’s would be during his waking nightmares.   He reached out and touched her arm. “Miss Carley?”

She jumped, pulling her arm from him on instinct before sighing. “I’m sorry, you startled me.”  She whispered. 

“Are you alright?”

She sighed.  “No.  I’m not. My team is dead.  My ship is a pile of re-solidified metal and vaporized circuitry. I’m stranded on a planet where people can barely tolerate a trivial difference such as skin pigmentation, let alone anyone who differs greatly from the norm, like myself.  And, I have nothing physical to remind me of home.”  Tears welled in her organic eye and she hastily wiped them away.  “Everything I knew, everyone I loved is thousands of lightyears away, and I have no way to even contact them to let them know I’m still alive.”  She sighed, letting her head thump back against the wall.  “I have nothing left, and I don’t know what to do.”

The Spine was quiet for a moment.  “Stay with us.”

“We’ve been through this, I can’t repay you for--”

“You don’t have to repay us for anything.”  He stopped her with a hand on her arm.  “We may not be your blood family, and we might not be able to build you a new ship, but we can keep you safe.  And… care about you.” He looked over the rest of the sleeping humans.  “All of these people, we care about them greatly, and they have no relation to Pap-- to Peter Walter I.”  

“I couldn’t stay.  Not without doing something to contribute to your household, and you all seem to have everything covered…”

“Peter VI will find a place for you,” he assured.  “You won’t have to do this alone.” 

Carley looked up, tears shining in her organic eye, and bit back a sob.  “You...you don’t know how much that means to me.”  She whispered, even as her mind told her he was lying.  “I don’t know how well I’ll fit in a household at first.  I’ve been on my own, fending off Donatu and Du Franks, for too long.  You’ll have to be patient.”

“We will be.  Our...family...has its share of idiosyncrasies.” The Spine smiled.  “Try and rest, Carley.  I’ll keep watch.”

She nodded.  “Thank you, Spine.  I...I think I will stay with you all...for a while, at least.”  She mumbled, before shutting down her non-essential systems and drifting back to sleep, leaving The Spine properly alone with his thoughts this time.

The Spine nodded as Carley closed her organic eyes and turned off the lights on the other side of her face. After a few minutes he vented a little steam. It was a few hours before the sun would come up. A few hours alone with this thoughts. The Spine replayed what had happened...the way David had looked over the past few days.  How he’d keep moving away from him.  How he’d huff and sigh whenever he was told to monitor his work levels.  And then, there was the whole incident with the bomb. He’d put himself at enormous risk.  Necessary, in hindsight, but enormous risk just the same. The Spine vented some steam from his cheeks.  He should have...done something. Was David trying to...distance himself?  Had he done something wrong?  Or was David not feeling well?  This journey could be affecting his mental state... The Spine wiped at his face, unwilling to leave visible oil streaks on his faceplate.  He wasn’t at the Duck Pond, he couldn’t afford to show weakness now, not with David pulling away like this; not with him potentially halfway to another breakdown.   With a nod, The Spine promised himself that he wouldn’t let the technician out of his sight.  Not only would he be doing a disservice to David, but he’d be breaking the orders Peter VI had given him...to keep David under his wing.

The sun could not come soon enough.

* * *

David yawned and stretched, his hand bumping the door panel. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He looked around. He was alone in the van. That seemed odd. Fear washed over him for a moment until he heard the sound of Steve and Michael talking from outside.

He opened the door and stepped out into the morning sun.

“Hey David!” Steve called cheerfully from the fire. “Come have some breakfast.”

David nodded and moved over to the fire. Michael still had his leg propped up by the fire. “Sleep okay?” He asked as David joined him.

“Yeah, but feeling a little sore.” David stretched again. Steve thrust a plate into his hand and David looked down at the gooey, melty graham cracker goodness. His lips twitched into a slight smirk. “I thought s’mores weren’t for breakfast?”

Steve smiled, shoving the marshmallow mess into his mouth before talking. “Victory s’mores remember? We won.”

The Spine snorted from over by the pine trees, making it clear he disagreed but he did not say anything else. David looked over at him. The Spine seemed to be acting strangely, like he was nervous...no that wasn’t right...apprehensive? “Where’s Carley?” David asked, munching on the sweet snack.

“Bathroom...Spine’s acting as a reference point for her. When she gets back, I have to go too.” Michael said a little embarrassed, Steve would have to help him.

Carley walked back into the campsite. Yet The Spine stayed by the trees. That was not right, so after finishing his second s’more David made his was over to the automaton.

“Spine? You okay?” He asked softly, drawing the robot from his thoughts.

Suddenly The Spine grabbed David, pulling him into a hug. He held David tight enough that the human couldn’t pull away, but he did not hurt him. “I thought I was going to lose you….all of you.”

“Hey...hey...hey...we’re all here. It’s okay.” David comforted The Spine, aware now that going back to the castle must have been just as hard for him as it was for David. “It’s okay.” The Spine released David after a moment and dragged his hand through the humans brown hair. David’s eyes fluttered and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

The Spine smiled. He had been silly. David was right here and still beside him. “Let’s change your gel pack now, okay David?”

David stiffened a bit. “I can change it myself.”

But The Spine wasn’t listening, already pulling on David’s arm back to the van, like a child with their parent. David hissed out an annoyed breath as, once again, The Spine took his arm and changed the gel pack inside the fabric.

Carley was by the fire alone with her thoughts, David went to join her. Steve had helped Michael into the woods to use the bathroom as well. “How you holding up?” David asked Carley, well aware that The Spine was standing over his shoulder and just a few feet back. Like a seven foot tall shadow.

Carley shrugged.  “I’m not entirely sure right now.  I’ll be alright in time.”  She nibbled on a plain graham cracker. “I just need to...adjust to everything.”

David nodded.  “Well, we’ll all be here if you need help.  Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I appreciate that.  Thank you.”  She smiled, glancing up as Steve and Michael made a reappearance.  

“We should get on the road.”  Michael sighed as he settled into the backseat again, with Carley once again propping up his ankle.

Steve rubbed his face as he leaned against the van.  He’d gotten a few hours of sleep, but he was still exhausted.  

Carley frowned.  “I don’t think you’re in any condition to operate this vehicle.”

“I’m fine.” Steve yawned, slurring the words out.  “I just need some soda or something.”

“I can drive.” David offered.  “Let you get some sleep for a while.”

“David, are you sure?” The Spine asked, wincing when David stepped away from him.

“I can do it.  Mike’s ankle is busted, Steve’s exhausted, and you and Carley can’t be seen by any cops on the road.”  David huffed.  “It’s not the end of the world.  I’ll drive for a while.  Just until Steve feels better.”

“And I do not know how to operate this vehicle anyway.”

“That too.”  David nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Thanks man, I owe ya one...”  Steve yawned again, already starting to douse the fire and clear up the mess.

The Spine vented steam from his neck and cheeks, but said nothing.  David was right, he was the only other one capable of driving at the moment.

Carley took the cooking gear from the remnants of their fire.  “I’ll put these away, Steve.  Go sit down.” 

“Right on.”  Steve mumbled, climbing into the passenger seat of the van while The Spine gathered the last of the trash, insisting that David not do anything.

David sighed and climbed into the driver’s seat busying himself with adjusting the mirrors and getting a feel for the vehicle. While he did know how to drive, it had been a while and he had never driven a cargo van before.

“We’re all set back here, David.” The Spine said, closing the cargo door with a click. Steve was already sound asleep in the passenger seat.

David gave a nod and turned the key, engine roaring to life. “Okay. Let’s head home.”

Ten minutes....that was exactly how long David had been driving before The Spine started to speak. They had just pulled out onto the main highway.

“Watch the speed limit, David.”

“I see it, Spine.”

“Our exit is in 5.8 miles”

“I saw the sign, Spine.”

“Be sure to use your blinker when changing lanes.”

“I know, Spine.”

“Watch out for that truck! It’s speeding!” The Spine silver arm dashed into his side vision pointing at a vehicle to the left of him. The movement startled David and for a moment he lost control the van swerving slightly over the light before getting it under control once more.

The Spine frowned. “Maybe Steve should drive.”

“Steve’s sleeping!” David snapped back much louder than he thought. He felt the smothering of the past three days starting to build up. David couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t deal with this...this Spine mother hen.

“Spine.”  Carley’s voice was soft.  “Settle down.”

“Let him focus.”  Michael added.  “And put your fins back, you’re turning the van into a steam room.”  

“I’m only trying to help.”  The Spine huffed, but leaned back slightly and retracted his fins.  He was only quiet for another 10 minutes, just long enough for them to get onto the interstate before he started up again.  “David, watch for the other cars in the left lane.  They tend to speed.”

“I. Know. Spine.”  He hissed through gritted teeth.  Carley could see his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.  She chose not to mention it, but ran a quick scan on his body temperature, just to be on the safe side.

The Spine opened his mouth to say something again, but Michael cut him off.  “Leave it alone, Spine.  He’s fine.”

“But I’m--”

“Drop it.  Don’t make me make it an order.”

The Spine vented some steam, but sat back, keeping an eye on the speedometer.

Carley cleared her throat to break the tension and started to ask Michael and The Spine about how the Manor typically functioned on a day to day basis, mostly to keep The Spine occupied.

It worked for about two hours, when Carley finally ran out of questions to ask.   And the end of the conversation couldn’t come at a worse time.

“David, there’s a construction zone ahead.  You should slow down.”

David huffed through his nose, angrily hitting the blinker and steering the van into the nearby rest stop.  

The Spine arched an eyebrow.  “David?”

“I need to pee.”  He growled, pulling into an isolated parking space and climbing out with no preamble.  

He slammed the door shut, and Steve jolted awake. “What? What happened?”

The Spine hissed steam as watched David walk away. “He’s going in the wrong direction...I should go after him.”

“No.” Michael ordered.  “Steve, you go.  Make sure he’s doing okay.  Carley, can you give us a minute? I need to talk to The Spine.”

She nodded, pulling the hood over her head and disabling the lights on her facial implants.  “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Michael waited until she had shut the door behind her and for Steve to jog off after David to address the silver automaton.

Michael rubbed at his face. “Spine you need to stop.”

The Spine blinked. “Stop? I’m not doing anything Michael.”

Michael let out a slow sigh, “Yeah, you are. Maybe you just haven’t noticed it. Ever since we learned how...serious David’s condition is, you haven’t left his side.”

“Of course not! He needs me! Peter told me to watch over him!” The Spine crossed his arms, venting steam from his neck.

“Spine, you have to understand. There’s protecting and then there mothering. You’ve been looming over David like a shadow. Heck, you didn’t even let him go to the bathroom alone this morning.”

The Spine looked up, shocked. “I...the woods can be dangerous.”

“So you hid in a bush like a creep ‘til he was done?”

The Spine looked at the floor. “I was behind a tree.”

“My point exactly! You’ve completely back tracked. Two weeks ago, David was choosing his own meals, changing his own gel pack, and hanging out with the others without you sometimes. You’re treating him like a toddler. Can’t you see why he would be getting a little resentful of that?”

 “I...never thought of it that way.” Yet even now his mind played back memories. He had been treating David differently, like he would break apart.

“Look I would never tell you to go against Peter’s orders but...you have to give him some room to breathe...or he’ll just keep pulling away like this. Trust me...I know.” Michael gave The Spine’s arm a gentle, reassuring tap.

“Thank you. I will heed your advice.” The Spine drifted back into his thoughts. How exactly would be the best way to make amended with his technician?

Because he needed to.

* * *

“David!  David, hang on!”  Steve called, finally catching up to the technician near a cluster of empty picnic tables.  “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry I woke you up, Steve.  I just needed some air.”

“It’s fine, I needed to get up anyway.  What happened? Mike sounded like he was ready to rip Spine a new one and you’re not exactly headed for the bathrooms.”

David sighed and sat down.  “Spine’s just being really overbearing about everything.  Every few seconds he’s trying to...I don’t even know.  It’s like he’s trying to insulate me from the world, but he’s doing it so much that I can’t breathe.”  He ran his fingers through his hair as Steve sat beside him.  “I know how to drive, I know my own limits, and I can handle myself.  It’s just...ugh!” He threw his hands up then thumped his head down onto the picnic table.  “It’s making me want to tear my hair out.”

“He’s probably just worried about you.”

“I know he is, I get that. I do.”  He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  “But he’s treating me like a 5-year-old!  He’s all:  ‘David, don’t do this,’ ‘David, don’t eat that.’ ‘David, it’s time for bed,’ ‘David, it’s time to change your gelpack when it’s only an hour old.’” He rested his head in his hands.  “I can’t take it anymore!”

Steve sighed.  “Yeah, I can see how that’d get old real fast.”

“I mean, not even _Bunny_ is this bad, and she’s my twin.”

Steve nodded, unsure of what to say.  He’d never been good at the whole...emotions...thing.

“I don’t get it, Steve.  Things were fine before.  I was doing all of these things on my own and there was a nice balance of him being around and me being independent, and then Carley showed up and now he doesn’t want me to lift a finger.”

“Maybe you should tell him all of this?” Steve offered.  “As awful as it sounds, it’s not doing you any good just telling me.”

“I know I should, but I’d rather focus on just getting back home for now.  The sooner that happens, the sooner I can hide behind Bunny for a while and… decompress.”  David sighed and rubbed his face.  “Don’t suppose you feel up to driving?  I don’t think I can do it anymore.”

“Sure thing, kid.”

“Please don’t call me that.  Not now.”

Steve nodded.  “Sorry, David.  I’ll try to do better.”

David nodded and they started back to the van.

Carley greeted them with a nod.  “Are you two alright?”

“Yeah.  I just needed some air is all.” David sighed.

She nodded.  “Michael is still talking to him right now, we should probably wait.  Oh,” She reached into the pocket of her hoodie.  “I grabbed one of your gelpacks on the way out, David.  I didn’t know if you needed a fresh one or not.”

He felt the band on his arm and nodded.  “This one’s been on for a bit.  Thanks.”  He sighed.  “Now Spine can’t bother me over it.”  He muttered as he changed it, shoving the old one into his pocket.

Carley chose to ignore the second comment.  “And are you feeling better, Steve? Now that you’ve gotten some sleep.”

“Yeah.  I’ll take over driving. Give Skinny McLonglegs over here a break.”  He smirked, playfully elbowing David.

“Screw you, Steve.”  David couldn’t help but chuckle as he returned the gesture.

The back of the van opened. “You guys ready to get back on the road?” Michael asked.

“Get off that ankle, Mike. And yeah, we're ready to go.” Steve poked his friend in the arm.

Michael rolled his eyes as Carley climbed back into the van. David took the passenger seat and Steve took over driving. “Geez, you had to move all my mirrors?” He continued to tease David who stuck his tongue out at the sound engineer.

The Spine waited until they had all settled down and Steve had started driving again before quietly speaking.  “I’m sorry, David.”

“For what?”

“I’ve been...overprotective.  And I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, Spine.” David sighed, shifting in his seat so he could see the automaton.  “Sorry I stormed off.”

“I just don’t want to see you get hurt.  I’m only trying to protect you.  That’s why I watch over you; why I worry about you.”

“I know.” David sighed, thumping his head against the headrest.  “I get it. Apology accepted.”

The Spine smiled to himself.  That was what he wanted to hear.  “Thank you, David.  For understanding.”

“Mhm.” David turned his head away again, not really feeling up to conversation.  

The Spine tried to speak again, but Carley stopped him with hand on his shoulder and a shake of her head.

Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.  That wasn’t exactly the apology he’d been expecting The Spine to give, and it certainly hadn’t cleared the tension between him and David, but it would have to do for now.

Carley settled down as best she could in the back and closed her eyes.  They still had a few hours before they’d make it back to the manor.

They’d only made it 20 minutes before The Spine was fishing in the cooler for a gelpack. Carley opened her mouth to speak, but was half a second too late.

“David? It’s time to change your gelpack.”

David tensed in the front seat.  “I already changed it at the rest stop.  It’s fine.”

The Spine frowned.  “I did not see that.  Please give me your arm.”

“Spine…” Carley tried to interject.

“Just because you didn’t see it, Spine, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.” David sighed.  “It’s fine, I promise.”

“David, give me your arm.”

“No.  I’m.  Fine.”

The Spine vented some steam.  “David,” He started to lean over the backseat to reach for his technician.  “Let me see your arm.”

“NO!” David jerked away.  “Carley gave me one right before I came back!” He dug in his pocket and tossed the previous gelpack at The Spine.  “See?!”

The Spine caught it with ease and settled back, storing the two back in the cooler. “You don’t need to yell, David.  I was only trying to help protect you from--”

“Oh. My. GOD, Spine!” David turned around in his seat, startling Steve and making him jerk the wheel slightly.  “You’re not protecting me!  You are SMOTHERING me!  I can change a gelpack on my own. I can keep track of how cold it is!” He started counting off on his fingers.  “I can keep track of what I eat.  I can keep track of how tired I am.  I can keep track of how hot I’m feeling, okay?!  I can do all of these things!”  He gripped at his hair.  “I’m not a baby, okay?!  I’m not some kid with a developmental disorder!  I’m an adult with some messed up, weird alien-demon-torture drug in me, and I can take care of my goddamn FUCKING SELF!”

The van was dead silent after that.  Michael was holding his breath while Steve subtly sped the van up.  Even Carley was ready to jump in to try and defuse something.

The Spine’s fins slid out and he vented a cloud of steam.  “David, I--”

“Shut up, Spine.” David spat, startling the automaton into silence.  “Just...leave me alone, okay?”  He muttered, turning to look out the window.  “I don’t wanna talk anymore.”

“David…”

“Drop it, Spine.”  Michael ordered.  “Just drop it.”

The Spine was quiet as he settled back down into the back of the van, taking just enough time to slide the cooler with David’s gelpacks closer to Carley before dimming his eyes and pulling his hat down to cover them.

He had a lot of thinking to do for the rest of the way home.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter, everyone! Last chapter will go up tomorrow morning, as a treat for all of our lovely readers. - SE.

The moment the van pulled to a stop in front of the manor, David jumped out of the passenger's seat and all but ran for the door.

“David!” The Spine called after him but he ignored it.

He didn’t stop when he ran past a confused Chelsea and Camille.

He didn’t stop when Zero greeted him warmly.

He didn’t stop until he got the only other place he felt truly and deeply safe. Bunny’s room. She wasn’t in but he collapsed on her bed, taking in the comforting scent of his sister.

They had to share a room after their parents died. This feeling of family reassurance was all they had for so many years. The neglect of foster care...David rubbed his nose into the pillows, blocking out those memories. He didn’t want to think about it.

David lost track of how long he was laying there until, “David!” Bunny’s voice drew him from his thoughts. He looked up and wiped at the tears he didn’t know he had been crying. “Bunny.” he called her name and opened his arms.

He needed to be held by the one person who always understood him: his soul-sharing twin.

She held him and mumbled soft words of comfort. “Rabbit said you were back... what happened?”

He told her everything. How The Spine had been treating him, the explosion, and then yelling at The Spine.

“I shouldn’t have become so angry but…” David trailed off.

Bunny nodded. “It’s hard being treated like a kid again. We haven’t considered ourselves kids since….”

David gave a nod. “Yeah, the accident. Even if ‘technically’ we were still kids.”

Bunny sighed and laid down on her bed, David flopped down once more beside her. Bunny propped up on her elbows looking at him. “So wait, how long has everyone known you’ve had an alien drug in your system?”

David shrugged, having calmed considerable. “I guess probably since Carley got here.”

Bunny narrowed her eyes. “I am going to break him, then fix him, then break him again.”

“Bunny!” David scolded. “Just let it go...please. Mike talked to him, I yelled at him, Rabbit’s probably gonna yell at him.   _Peter’s_ probably gonna yell at him.  No point in adding you to that list.”

She sighed. “Okay…for you, I will let it go, but stay here for a while okay? I’ve missed you.”

“Yeah…I’ve missed you too.” David scooted over on the bed and laid his head on Bunny’s shoulder. They lapsed into quite thoughts, taking comfort in being near each other.

Rabbit found them a few minutes later. It was dinner time after all and she was coming to fetch her technician to make sure she ate. Carley was currently taking care of Michael's ankle properly, all while trying to fend off a very excited GG, who continued to run around under foot.

[Found him Spine.] Rabbit texted her brother.

Relief flooded the Wi-Fi connection. [Thank goodness. Where is he?]  

[Bunny’s room.]

[Good. I’ll be right there, I need to…]

Rabbit cut him off. [Actually The Spine, they seem to be needing some time on their own. We can just bring them some food in a bit if they don’t come to dinner.]

Rabbit felt disappointment, guilt, and confusion drift over the Wi-Fi before The Spine abruptly cut off his connection.

* * *

The Spine hurried to the Hall of Wires. Now that they had found David and The Spine knew he was safe, Bunny would see to his needs, The Spine needed some alone time and the Hall of Wires was the one place with a door. While that door couldn’t be locked, he certainly could block it.

QWERTY greeted him brightly, but The Spine was already sending codes to put the A.I. System into sleep mode. Once that was done The Spine slipped out of his body, letting it drop to the floor much harder than normal. He called the wires, they dropped and formed around him like a nest, cradling The Spine’s head and neck.  

He closed his optics as he tightened the nest around him and ordered it to lift him into a dark corner of the Hall of Wires.

The Spine sighed as he called up his memory banks for the past few days. He needed to see exactly where he went wrong. He also took a few seconds to call up the internet, cross referencing books on human psychology.

An hour later, The Spine had many theories as to what went wrong in there friendship relationship but the main part was clear. Trust...he had stopped trusting in David. Not only to take care of himself, The Spine thought, but also trusting that David would tell him if something was wrong. If he needed something, or if he was distressed.

He needed to make amends, but it was getting late; maybe he should wait until morning. The Spine had just settled down to enter stasis when a text messaged flashed into his mind.

_My office. Now._

_~ Peter_

The frown that formed on The Spine’s black lips was one for the ages. He sighed and called for the wires to lower him back to his body.

He wasn’t ready to face Peter.

But a Walter had summoned him… he had to go.

* * *

Peter clearly wasn’t happy.  That was the one thing The Spine could tell when he made it to his office.  

The automaton vented steam, his fins sliding out as if on instinct.  “You sent for me, sir?”

Peter nodded, not looking up from his work.  “Sit down, Spine.”

The automaton flinched at the bite in his voice.  He was definitely in trouble.  He sunk into the chair, silently fending off Rabbit’s questioning feelings over the Wi-Fi.  Her comfort would be welcome at least.

“Get off the Wi-Fi.” Peter ordered.  “I don’t want anyone overhearing this.”

So much for comfort.  The Spine ticked off his connection, unable to bring himself to meet Peter’s gaze.

Peter sighed.  “I know you and Mr. Bennett had a falling out earlier.  Mr. Reed and Mr. Negrete gave me their versions of the story. I’ll get David’s later, I assume he’s trying to rest right now. Let’s hear yours.”

The Spine told him.  There was no point in trying to hide anything.  He told him everything, including about his own faulty logic and failed apology and about the time he’d spent brooding since they’d returned.

When he finally stopped speaking, Peter leaned back in his chair, taking off his mask and rubbing at his temples.  “Well, I won’t say you didn’t have it coming.”  Another sigh as he replaced the mask. “And here I was hoping I’d never have to do this…”

“Do...what, Peter?”

“I really hate to use the term ‘punish’. I know it has some rather...dark connotations to it, especially after what you’ve been through, but unfortunately that’s the only word that comes to mind.” Peter stood, clasping his hands behind his back as looked over a bookshelf.  “As of right now, I want you to stay in the Hall of Wires.  Once I hear David’s side of the story, and potentially even Carley’s, I’ll decide what I’m going to do.  It’ll be up to David to decide if he wants to stay on as your technician or not.”

The Spine nodded, standing and retracting his fins.  

“Spine, I mean it.   _Stay_ in the Hall of Wires.”

“Yes, sir.”

~~~

The Spine didn’t meet anyone as he slowly walked back to the Hall. He only ticked on his Wi-Fi long enough to ask Rabbit to watch over David for him. He had turned it off again before she even finished asking him if he was alright.

The door to the Hall of Wires never looked so unwelcoming before. He had sometimes spent days in here over the years, but never because he wasn’t allowed to leave. He vented some steam as the door closed behind him, the red light of the room and the wires welcoming him.

At least it wasn’t the Vault. He was thankful for that. If Peter had wanted to he could have ordered The Spine to be confined in there. At least here he had the internet and his wire nests to comfort him.

 

It was a small comfort.

* * *

Rabbit was feeling...uneasy. The Spine had been feeling distressed… worried… but had turned off his Wi-Fi connection. He only turned it back on again a few hours later to ask Rabbit to watch over David. He turned if off again before she could even agree.

Rabbit continued to mindlessly walk the halls. She had brought Bunny and David dinner but David had flinched at her ever so slightly. Bunny quietly explained he wasn’t feeling up to contact with any automaton right now. Rabbit said she understood, that she would leave them to play a game or just eat and rest, but she didn’t really understand.

Something must have happened between The Spine and David... something serious. The clock chimed 10pm. Most of the Walter Workers would be in bed but... she knew one who might still be up. Turning at the next corner, she made her way down towards Michael’s room, and was happy when she heard the light notes of a banjo. He was still up and he would know that happened.

“Heya Mista Reed!” Rabbit greeted brightly knocking on the door frame.

Michael was laying in his bed his ankle properly wrapped and propped up on some pillows. He smiled brightly at her. “Hey Rabbit.”

Rabbit took his reply as permission to come into the room. She pulled out his heavy desk chair and turned it around so she could face him. “Nice s-s-song ya working on. Whatcha calling it?”

“I’m thinking of calling it ‘Forget Me Not’.”  He said, playing a few soft chords.

“I like it.” Rabbit said, tapping her foot to the beat. For a while, they lapsed into silence before Rabbit spoke. “So...what h-h-happened?” She asked quietly.

Michael kept playing and Rabbit smiled. He’d tell her when he was ready, she didn’t have to wait long.

“Rabbit... we almost didn’t make it back. The place was rigged with bombs and… maybe The Spine would have survived, but none of us would have. Add on the fact that The Spine... I don’t want to say he was treating David badly, but... he wasn’t treating him like a friend. He was smothering him with fussing, like he was a child. David and The Spine had a falling out and... Well, Peter has ordered The Spine to stay in the Hall of Wires until further notice.” Michael played a few more chords. “I take it he asked you to keep an eye on David?”

Rabbit nodded. “He f-f-fell asleep in Bunny’s room. He’s safe,” she assured the head engineer.

“Good, Bunny will look after him if he has a nightmare.”

Silence filled the room once more. Human and automaton each having their own thoughts. Rabbit stayed until Michael became too sleepy to keep playing. She wished him goodnight and returned to wandering the halls. It was almost midnight now. She’d check on the twins and then maybe try going into stasis for the night.

* * *

David stretched, careful not to wake Bunny, who was still sleeping besides him. It was early but he felt refreshed. As he went to check his phone, he noticed a message had come through, timestamped around 6am.

_My office. As soon as you are able._

                                    _~Peter_

David swallowed a lump in his throat. He...hadn’t been expecting to talk to Peter about what happened...but he should have known he would be asked too. There was no going back to sleep now. David slipped out of bed and moved to use Bunny’s bathroom. She was still sound asleep when he finished up. Outside the window, the sun was starting to paint the sky with its pinks and orange lights.

No time like the present, David thought, as he walked down the hallway. Towards Peter’s office. Pausing only long enough for a glass of water and to change his gel pack. It felt funny almost...The Spine not being around when he woke up.

And that funny feeling turned into guilt the longer David was awake. David sighed, pulled out his phone and sent The Spine a text.

_Hey, I’m sorry. Can we talk?_

_~David_

David passed by the Hall of Wires, unaware that The Spine was in there, woven tightly in a nest of wires, hiding in the dark. He had disabled his messaging system for anyone but Peter. He did not see David’s text.

David reached the impressive carved wooden doorway and knocked.

“Come in.” Peter’s voice echoed from the room.

David hesitated for a moment before entering. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Ah David. I wasn’t expecting you so early. Please have a seat.” Peter said, adjusting his mask. “I wanted to talk to you about what happened, if you feel up to it?”

David pushed down the knot forming in his belly. “Yes sir.” he said quietly as he sat in the offered chair. Peter sat down at his desk. For a moment they just looked at each other before David spoke. “I’m sorry.”

Peter leaned back in his chair, genuinely surprised. “What are you apologizing for?”

“I know I shouldn’t have lost my temper with The Spine, it wasn’t like me. I’m sorry. I’ll do better.” David promised, his gaze firmly on the floor.

Peter sighed, “David, no one is angry at you. I am not angry at you. I’ve already spoken to Michael, Steve and The Spine. Now I would like your version of events... please.”

David nodded. “It all started out the first night away. Well... there had been little things before that, ever since you talked to Carley on her first day here but…” He continued talking recalling every detail even the most... uncomfortable things. Peter said nothing, but continued to lean back in his desk in thought, even after David was finished talking.

“Oh, and I should return this…” David fumbled with the pendent around his neck. “It saved our lives.” he said, placing the blue matter shield on the desk.

“From my understanding David, it was your quick thinking that saved lives. My little shield merely helped.” Peter fingered the little trinket in his hands.

“I didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”

“And thanks to you, no one did.” Peter nodded.  “There’s one more question before you leave.  Do you want to stay on as The Spine’s technician?  Know that I won’t dismiss you or your sister if you choose not to.  Especially with your condition, which... is partially our fault to begin with.”

David was quiet for a moment.  “I want to stay on.  The Spine was just... worried about me.  Even Rabbit was a bit overbearing when Bunny and I first showed up.  And I’m pretty sure Spine feels guilty about this,” he touched the fabric on his arm.  “Even though the idea, that caused this to happen, was mine.” 

Peter nodded.  “I’m still not happy with how he was treating you.”

“Neither was I, but it wasn’t enough to make me want to leave.  This place, the people here... they’re the closest thing to family that Bunny and I have.”

“Very well.  That’s your choice.” Peter nodded, shoving a piece of paper into the trash can.  “Thank you, David.  That’ll be all.  Just take a few days off, alright?”

“I...alright.”  He paused, shifting in his seat.

“Is there something else?” Peter asked.

“Go easy on him.”  David’s voice was quiet.  “He was only trying to help.  Went a little too far, but his intentions were nothing but good.”

Peter nodded.  “I’m still deciding on what to do.  I still need to speak to Carley, but she’s a bit wrapped up seeing to Michael’s ankle.  Once I have everyone’s story, I’ll make a decision.  Until then, just try and rest.  I imagine surviving an explosion was a bit exhausting.”

David snorted slightly.  “Just a bit and thank you, sir.”  He offered, standing and leaving Peter alone in his office once more.

* * *

David sighed and wandered down the hallway. He hasn’t seen or heard from The Spine. He checked his phone again. Not a single reply. He sighed again lost in thought.

“David!” a voice greeted cheerfully, causing the technician to turn.

“Hey Zero.”

Zero’s smiled dropped slightly. “You okay, David?”

“Oh, yeah, Zero. I’m fine. Say, you haven’t seen The Spine around, have you?” David asked.

Zero blinked.  ”Eh... yeah. He’s in the Hall of Wires... but um... I’m not sure you can go see him.”

David tilted his head in confusion. Zero was already texting Rabbit.

[Rabbit, David’s looking for The Spine. What do I say?]

Zero felt a shrug come over the Wi-Fi. [The truth I guess.]

[Um...] Zero’s discomfort floated over the network.

Rabbit sighed, [Send him my way. I’ll take care of it.]

[Thanks, Rabbit! You’re the best big sister.]

[Yeah, yeah... just send him.]

“Rabbit wants to talk to you. She’s in Living Room 3.” Zero’s bright smile was back.

“O...kay. Well thanks Zero, I’ll see you later.” David turned and moved towards Rabbit’s location.

“Bye David!” Zero called behind him.

* * *

The Spine laid coiled up in a tight ball of wires. He had wrapped his spinal column over his eyes like a snake. He hurt. His self-loathing was as thick as the wires that held him. Why was he so broken? No matter what he did, he’d made mistake after mistake. His family deserved better. Not some broken mess.

The Spine left his Wi-Fi turned off. He didn’t deserve the love of his sister and brother. He didn’t deserve playing on the internet or talking to QWERTY.  

He didn’t even deserve water for his boiler.

He had lost David’s trust, possibly his friendship, and maybe even lost him as a technician. Just that thought made The Spine’s blue core shudder, he felt like he was breaking apart.

He needed a hug, he needed David; he needed to see he was okay, to beg forgiveness... but he couldn’t leave the Hall of Wires.

 _Punishment…_ the word echoed in his mind, rattling around like a loose cog. There were only two ways he could think of that Peter could punish him.  One was decommissioning.  But, Peter wouldn’t do that to him. Peter wasn’t like that besides they still had a few shows booked for later on, and they’d need The Spine for those.

The other option seemed to be the only viable one.  The Vault.  True, Hatchworth wasn’t being punished when he’d been confined, but it was the only place that Peter could ensure that The Spine was secure and unable to cause any more problems; unable to make any more mistakes.

A ping to his local network startled him. No one should be able to reach him, he’d disconnected from the Wi-Fi and put QWERTY into sleep mode…

Another ping, this time with a message attached.  [Are you alright?]  The wavelength wasn’t immediately recognizable to him.  It definitely wasn’t Zero or Rabbit, and if Peter had devised a new communications device, he wouldn't’ be testing it with him.  None of the human members of the family were capable of pinging him like this, so that left…

[Carley?]

[Yes.  Are you alright? Are you damaged?]

[I am undamaged.  My systems are all apparently fine.]

[Apparently?]

[...I don’t want to talk about it. How are you contacting me? I’m isolated.]

[Isolated, yes.  Encrypted, no. And even though you are disconnected from the ‘Wi-Fi’ network, your local area network is still functional.  My internal comms are a tad bit more powerful, it seems, than your siblings’.]

[Oh.]  The Spine started to place a gentle encryption on his network, only to feel what must’ve been Carley frowning.

[Please don’t lock me out.  I only want to help.]

[I...I’m on restriction.  No contact until Peter says otherwise.]

He could feel her disbelief through the next ping as she easily paused the encryption.

[Zero is concerned.  He’s with me now.  What should I tell him?]

The Spine halted in his efforts, fighting to keep his feelings from Carley’s comms.  [Tell him the truth.  I’ve made a mistake and now I have to be--]

[Be....] She prompted.

[Punished.]

She was silent for a while after that.  It was almost long enough for The Spine to think she’d gone, but her voice returned just as he was about to resume his encryptions.  [I told him you were upset and wanted to be left alone.  It should keep him away for a little bit.  What is the extent of your restriction?]

[No contact with anyone, no internet, and to stay in the Hall.]

[That seems a bit harsh.  Would you like me to speak to Peter about it?]

[No!]  The Spine could practically feel her flinch on the other end of the comm link.  He couldn’t let her know that most of this was self-inflicted.  Peter would only become angrier that he’d had his name tacked on to something he hadn’t done. [I’m sorry. No.  He’s still deciding what to do with me.  I don’t want him to know about this...communication.]

Carley was silent again for a few moments.  [Very well.  I’ll be back to check on you this evening.]

[But…I’m to be isolated?]

[And what if something goes wrong?  You don’t have to talk very long.  Just let me know that you’re still alive in there.]

Now it was his turn to be silent.  Even after all she’d seen during the trip, she was still willing to...help?  [...Thank you, Carley.]

He felt her nod.  [Speaking of whom, apparently Peter is wanting to speak with me.  I’ll be back later.]  The connection clicked off, and he was alone again.

Dread pooled in The Spine’s throat.  She was the last person Peter would need to speak with before making his decision.

* * *

“Hey Rabbit. You asked to see me?” David said walking into Living Room 3.

Rabbit wasn’t really paying attention to him. Her eyes were glued on the TV, one of her movies playing. “Hey David.” She patted the seat beside her. “Come have a s-s-seat, it’s just getting to the g-g-good part.”

David sighed and crossed the room, sitting down beside Rabbit. At first he felt slightly on edge but the longer he sat, the more he got drawn into the movie and forgot his feelings. “No way! The bad guy can’t win!”

Rabbit giggled, “He w-w-won’t just keep watching.” knowing that David’s attention was on the film Rabbit turned her head ever so slightly to look at him. Gone was the discomfort he had been feeling, he looked happy, much happier than last night when he got home.

The movie finished and as the credits started to roll, David turned to look at her, his face taking on a shyness she hadn’t seen since his first weeks here. “Rabbit? Do you know where The Spine is? He’s...not answering any of my texts and... that’s not like him. If he’s mad at me, and I don’t blame him if he is, I need to apologize….”

Rabbit sighed.   “He needs some t-t-time to himself, David.  I’m sure he’ll be okay.”

David nodded.  “I just wish I had the chance to apologize to him.  I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

Rabbit shrugged.  “That happens sometimes, David.  He’ll have to come out eventually, to refill his boiler.  Y-y-y-you can talk to him then?”

“Yeah…I’ll do that.  Thanks, Rabbit.”

Rabbit beamed.  “Any time!”

* * *

Peter paced around his office.  He’d officially spoken to everyone now, and with Carley having voiced her concern about The Spine’s mental state, he was unsure what to do.  He hated having to be the ‘parent’ like this, especially since The Spine had helped raise him.

He could only imagine what was going through The Spine’s head.  He’d never been great at feeling how others might feel based on circumstances, and even less on the robots’ part as their Blue Matter is what gave them all their charming personalities.

He slumped into his desk after pacing for another few minutes.  It’d taken most of the morning to speak with everyone, and he needed to get this whole thing settled, preferably before the human contingent started for lunch.

With a heavy sigh, he sent another message to The Spine, summoning him back to his office, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, a message to David asking the same.  

David was the first to arrive, looking more confused than anything else.  “Sir?”

“Relax, Mr. Bennett.  You’re not in trouble.  I just want you here while I give Spine my final decision about this whole situation.  You spend more time with him than I do.”

David nodded and sunk into a seat against the wall of the office, glancing at his phone again before The Spine walked in.

He looked terrible.  His green photoreceptors were dim and downcast, his posture unnaturally poor, and his fins were already out and steaming.  He managed only a glance to David before looking away and sitting down in front of Peter’s desk.  “I….Am I correct in assuming you’ve made your decisions, Peter?”

The Walter heir nodded.  “I have.  But, before I say anything else, I want you to know that Mr. Bennett has chosen to stay on as your technician.”

The Spine looked up, confused.  “But…”

“It’s my choice, Spine.”  David offered.  “And I know you only meant well.  I shouldn’t have yelled so harshly at you. I’m sorry.”

Peter cleared his throat before The Spine could reply, bringing the attention back to himself.  “All of this aside, I’m still not pleased with how you behaved, Spine. You can probably guess as to what I’m referring.”

The Spine nodded. He knew quite well how poorly he’d been acting, especially where David’s gelpacks were concerned.

Peter continued. “But I’m still slightly at a loss of how to handle it.  So, here’s what I’m going to do:  I want you to tell me how you think this... punishment… should go.”  No one in the room missed the disgust in Peter’s voice at having to say that particular word.

The Spine hissed out a cloud of steam from his cheeks, neck, and back.  “Sir, please...don’t--”

“I’m not going to just dole out something without allowing you a say.” Peter sighed, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head.  “What do you think covers this situation?”

The Spine was quiet for a moment.  “I broke your trust,” he whispered, glancing to David.  “Acted unprofessionally, and in doing so, broke your trust as well.” He turned his gaze to Peter.  “We still have shows, so I can’t be decommissioned.  But…” He hissed out another cloud of steam.  “I will confine myself to the Vault.  A month, perhaps?”  That was too short.  He’d stay in the Vault forever if it meant David would be more comfortable.  “I’ll disable my connections to the Wi-Fi as well.  Only come out when needed.”

“Spine…” David started, but Peter held up a hand to stop him.

The Spine had drawn his shoulders up as he waited.  “And of course, no contact with anyone, in-” Another hiss of steam as he shut his optics.  “...including Rabbit or Zero.”

Both of the humans were silent for a moment, and The Spine wanted to disappear.  Was it...not enough? Had his series of errors been so grievous that what he’d said was too light?

“I...I can also detach from my--”

“Stop.”  Peter spoke, placing a hand on The Spine’s shoulder.  “That’s enough.  I won’t separate you from your siblings.  You had a bout of bad behavior; it’s not like you committed a crime.”

The Spine opened his optics, slowly looking up at him.  “But…”

“You don’t need to be so harsh on yourself.  You’re not going to the Vault, you’re not going to be kept away from your...from our family, but you’re not getting off scot free.  I want you to stay in the interior of the manor for the remainder of the week.  No going outside, no answering the doors.  Interiors only.  You can help Carley get settled in properly while you’re inside.”

The Spine hissed out steam, but nodded silently.

“In addition, I’m restricting you from your games and internet for the rest of this week and next week.   You can still read and I’ll let you watch movies or TV with the other ‘bots or some of the humans, but stay off the gaming consoles.  You can use internet to research things if you need, but no surfing for surfing’s sake.”

“Yes, sir.”  The Spine nodded.  He waited for the next order, but none came, only a gentle pat on his shoulder before Peter walked back around and sat at his desk.  “Peter?”

“Hm?”

“There’s….nothing else?”

“Nope.  That’s it.”  He shrugged.  “Like I said, you behaved poorly.  That’s not worth locking you up in solitary confinement for a month.  Now go on, get out of here.  Get some water before you run out.”

The Spine stood, letting David take his arm and lead him from Peter’s office, almost as if he were in a daze.  It wasn’t until they were almost to the kitchen that he finally came back to himself.  “David?”

“Yeah Spine?” David replied, but kept his hand on the automaton's arm.

“I…” The Spine closed his mouth, unsure what to say. He hoped they wouldn’t be alone in the kitchen. That there would be someone else for David to focus on.

No such luck as the kitchen was completely empty. Odd, since it was lunch time. There should be people in here. “Where is everyone?” The Spine asked quietly.

David had left him standing by the table going to fill up a glass of water. “Rabbit decided she wanted to have a picnic. Everyone is probably outside in the gardens.” He handed the water over, “Drink up, Spine.”

The Spine did as told, watching through the glass as David returned to the fridge, pulling out some bread and lunch meat. “Wouldn’t you rather be out there, David? I can...see myself back to my room.” The Spine almost bit his rubber tongue to keep from saying the Vault.

David simply shook his head. “It’s too hot outside today and I’d rather stay with you. I haven’t given your systems a proper check in the past few days. After lunch I really need to, if... if you’ll let me.” David looked at his feet. “I... I am sorry... I... hope you can forgive me. You’re my best friend, Spine. I need you.”

David voice quivered slightly and The Spine felt guilt burn his core even deeper. “Of course I forgive you! David, you… you have nothing to apologize for. I should be begging your forgiveness. David, I am so sorry. I am the one who is at fault. I should be locked in the Vault. I’m broken, mal-mal-mal-mal-mal-mal--”

_BONK!_

“...malfunctioning?” Something had hit The Spine on the head, knocking his hat askew and pulling him out of the loop he was getting trapped in. An unopened plastic bottle of apple juice was held tightly in David’s hand. “Spine… you’re being a dummins!” David smiled before bonking himself much more gently on the forehead with the same bottle. “And I’m being a dummins, too.”

The Spine couldn’t stop the smirk that tugged at his lips. “You’re spending far too much time with Rabbit. It’s affecting your vocabulary.”

David put the juice bottle down. “Maybe, but since we are both sorry, I’m okay with putting this all behind us if you are. I nearly had a panic attack when Peter said I didn’t have to be your technician anymore. That’s how I knew, my place is right here.” David leaned over, and put a comforting hand on The Spine’s arm.

The Spine really smiled. “You are the best technician I have ever had. I would be lost without you.” _I really would…_ The Spine thought.

David smiled back. “Well, now that that's settled.” He held his sandwich in his mouth while digging out something from his pockets. He placed a card deck on the table. “Can you show me how to play Crazy 8’s? Because I think Bunny keeps cheating.” he asked between bites of food.

The Spine began to shuffle the cards. “Well to start each play gets eight cards….”

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the last chapter! It's been a wild ride, and we've hope you've enjoyed reading this story as much as we've enjoyed writing it. All of your kudos and comments have been and will be deeply appreciated! Thanks for sticking around! -SE

_Two weeks later._

The Spine was coiled up on a hammock of wires, resting while he waited for the humans to wake up.  It was the weekend, and despite the nagging boredom from being restricted from the internet (enforced by Beebop and QWERTY), he enjoyed the quiet.

He was just about to slip back down into stasis when someone began knocking on the Hall’s door.  Loudly. “Hey Spine, get up!”  David’s muffled voice called through the door.  “Come on, wake up!”

The Spine quirked up an eyebrow and quickly descended, hurriedly reattaching to his chassis. He took a split second to adjust his hat before opening the door.  “David? Is everything alright?  I thought you’d be sleeping in.”

“Normally, yeah, but I figured you’d be chomping at the bit to…” He trailed off, noticing The Spine’s obvious confusion.  “You...don’t know what day it is?”

“It’s...Saturday?”

“Yeah...and…?”

The Spine blinked, “Do you...want me to sing _Me and My Baby_?”

David snorted, holding in a laugh. “Okay, let’s go about this a different way.  How long’s it been since we got home?”

“It’s been four days since you and the other humans returned from the movie theater.”  The Spine had been a little downcast when he hadn’t been able to go with them to see the new hit movie, but then again, none of the robots had gone.

David laughed again.  “Oh my god, Spine… it’s been two weeks!  You’re off restriction!”

The Spine frowned ever so slightly. “Actually my punishment did not begin officially until 11:48am. Technically I have four hours, thirty two minutes, and eleven seconds left.”

David opened his mouth, then closed it again, then after a moment of thinking, spoke. “But it’s been two weeks as of midnight. What’s a couple hours?” David regretted saying that, as The Spine’s green optics dimmed ever so slightly. The Spine was perfect to an absolute fault.

“Okay then.” David said with a shrug. The Spine expected him to leave, not enter farther into the hall of wires. “So you can have these form anything, right?” David asked reaching out to touch some of the dangling wires.

“I ...yes.” The Spine tilted his head confused at what David was getting at.

“Great! How about a table and some chairs? I’ll be right back.”

Before The Spine could even answer David hurried out of the room in a slight jog. Bewildered by his technician’s antics, The Spine did as he was requested to do, ordering the wires to wind and twist, becoming a small table and two chairs.

David was not gone for very long and he struggled to get a large basket through the doorway. Spine took it from him without thinking and for a moment he feared David’s reaction, but David just smiled, said ‘thank you,’ and pulled one of the old checkered table clothes out of the basket.

“I was going to set up an morning picnic in the backyard, before it got too hot, since you couldn’t, you know, go to the last one but a Hall of Wires picnic is just as nice.” David spread the table cloth over the mound of wires. The Spine started to unpack the basket as David kept talking. “So I got some breakfast things for me and that’s for you Spine.” The Spine looked at the glass bottle in hand. It was imported water from Italy and very expensive, for water anyway.

“And don’t worry,” David giggled slightly. “It doesn’t have bubbles in it.”

The Spine smirked, “And how do you happen to know about that?”

“Rabbit.” Was all David had to say, laughter shining in his eyes. “Rabbit told me a lot of stories… about you.” he teased, chuckling lightly.

Mirth gleamed in green photoreceptors. “If you didn’t have such an aversion to it, you’d be laughing a lot more right now.”

David squeaked slightly and giggled. The Spine smiled. He had missed this.

* * *

Carley woke to the clicking of GG’s hooves on her dresser.  The little giraffe had taken a liking to her, often hanging around and chattering to the woman about anything she could think of.  And Carley didn’t mind, it helped fill the silence when she was reorganizing the infirmary to her standards.

Peter had offered her the opportunity to stay, just as the group had told her, but it was she who insisted on working for him as well.  And considering her experience as a medic with the Lekidan Space Corps, the idea that she’d be the on-site doctor made perfect sense.

She’d spent the better part of her the first week being tailed by The Spine, who’d claimed he was ‘under strict orders to assist her and only her.’  Oddly enough, he’d always found an excuse to leave whenever GG showed up, but he’d been a great help when rearranging the furniture in her assigned bedroom and the larger medical equipment in the infirmary.

GG was shuffling around, attempting to make herself as comfortable as she could on the wooden dresser.  Carley yawned and sat up, quietly reactivating some of her non-essential systems.  “You’re up early, GG.”

“No, you’re up late!  Didn’t you say you always get up super early?”

“I said I ‘normally’ get up early.  Even I can enjoy a lazy morning.”  She smiled at GG as she pulled out some proper clothing.  She couldn’t help but smile as she remembered how Bunny and Rabbit had all but cornered her in a library and had insisted that they help her pick out a new wardrobe.  They’d spent the entire day parked in front of one of the computers, ordering clothing from various sites.

GG shifted around some more, pulling Carley from her thoughts.  “What’re you doing today, Carley?”

“Barring any medical issues, I promised David that I’d be available to help him cheer The Spine up, since today is supposed to mark the end of his restriction period.”

GG couldn’t frown, but the shift in her posture was just as telling.  “But...we’ve been having so much fun.”

“Your welcome to join us, I’m sure.”

“The Spine doesn’t like me.” She sighed, thumping her head on to the dresser, turning away as Carley began to dress.  

She hummed in thought, pulling a purple blouse over her head.  “If you don’t want to join us, then I certainly won’t make you.  But I’ll make you a deal:  If you manage to entertain yourself today, I’ll have a ‘movie marathon’ with you on Monday.”

“Why Monday? Why not tomorrow?”

“I told Rabbit and Zero that they could show me some of their favorite TV shows tomorrow.”

“Oh.  Well, I guess Monday’s okay then.”

Carley smiled.  “And when I say entertain yourself, I mean without harassing the Walter Workers or Steve and Michael.”

“I know!  I’m gonna make some progress with some new GG plushies!”  The little giraffe jumped down, already trotting out the door.  “Have fun, Carley!  We’ll have lots of fun Monday!”

Carley didn’t have a chance to respond before GG was gone.  She shook her head slightly before taming her bedhead and heading for the kitchen to find something to eat.

* * *

David stayed in the Hall of Wires with The Spine until the second his punishment was ‘officially’ over. Then the human insisted he come out, everything was over and done. There was no longer any reason to feel guilty. The Spine has quietly agreed and smiled at David as they chatted, walking through the halls.

But it wasn’t completely true.  The Spine knew in his core that he would feel guilty for the rest of his life regarding his heavy handed treatment of David, but he would never let the human know.

They spent the day together. David ran a full systems diagnostic check-up and chatted to him brightly...almost too brightly. By early evening, The Spine was starting to get the feeling that David was keeping something from him.

“Hang on a second, Spine. I need to change my gelpack.” David said as they passed the kitchen. It was dinner time so the kitchen should have been busy with people, it was oddly quiet.

“David? Where is everyone?” The Spine asked.

David’s body language changed ever so slightly as he opened the fridge, grabbing a cold gelpack. “Don’t know. They’re around here somewhere. Why don’t you check via the Wi-Fi?”

The Spine blinked. Of course, he had yet to turn his Wi-Fi back on. [Rabbit? Zero?] He called out to his siblings, happy to feel them once more at the back of his mind.

[THE SPINE!] Zero shouted over the connection.

[There you are, The Spine! We’ve been waiting for you to sign on all day!] Rabbit chastised, but it was with mirth and love, he could feel it.

[I’m sorry Rabbit, Zero. I didn’t mean to make you worry.]

[You’re such a dummins, The Spine.] Rabbit sent the equivalent of a tap to his forehead.

[You’re gonna join us right?] Zero added with hope in his voice.

David was at The Spine’s side, sipping on a juice box. That’s right, other than briefly seeing GG and Carley, they really hadn’t seen anyone today. [Where are you?]

[Living Room 3.]

There was a click and The Spine blinked. Both Rabbit and Zero had turned off their Wi-Fi. That was...unusual at best and concerning at most.

“Rabbit and Zero are in Living Room 3, but they made no mention of the others.” The Spine reported.

His human technician was trying very hard not to smile. “Oh? Well, I guess we better go see what’s going on.”

The Spine smirked. “Yes, we’d better do that.”

It was a short walk to Living Room 3 from the kitchen, thanks in part to a shortcut The Spine knew. He frowned slightly as they got closer. The room was dark, the lights off, and he could have sworn he heard many voices shushing each other and a whisper of “Here he comes.” The Spine took a half step in front of David, just in case. The Spine was about to turn on his night vision when David spoke.

“Gosh it’s dark, let me turn on the lights.” He reached for the light switch and flicked it on.

The Spine arched an eyebrow as the lights came up, noting the smirk on his technician’s face.

“THE SPINE!!!”  Rabbit’s combined vocalization _and_ sudden message over the Wi-Fi made The Spine to physically reel backward for a moment.  And he had less than a few seconds before he felt someone at his back, gently pushing him into the room and towards his siblings.

Or, rather, straight into Zero’s bone-crushing hug.  
Which was then joined by Rabbit.  
“We missed you, The Spine!”  Zero called.  “You barely came out of your room!”

The Spine patted his younger brother’s side as best he could with his arms pinned to his side.  “Zero...Rabbit, guys, you’re going to bend something….”

Carley appeared from behind them, revealing that she’d been the one to, quite literally, push him into this situation.  A proper smile was on her face as she sat down on the couch, next to Michael and Bunny, both of whom were laughing at the scene before them.

Rabbit finally pulled away, beaming at her brother.  “We’re having a party! Come on!” She turned and waved at David, who was still lingering in the door frame.  “You’re up first!”  She called, grabbing a controller and shoving it into The Spine’s hands.

“Uh…Rabbit...This isn’t…”

“Nope, you’re up first, The Spine.  Well, technically it’s all of us!  Peter rented a big TV and we can all play the go kart game!  But you’re player one!”

“But…”   The Spine started to interject.

“Oh, come on, Spine.” Michael chided.  “You’re off restriction, for real.  Play the game, already.”

The Spine took the offered controller in hand and smiled. “Well... if you insist.”

“And winner gets to tickle the loser!”  Rabbit shouted.

“Just not me.”  David’s voice was a bit softer.

“Right, except David...uh…..” Rabbit pondered for a moment, pursing her lips into her own signature ‘thinking’ expression.

“That’s what we got that pie for, David!” Bunny grinned.  “If you lose, you get a pie-face.”

David jaw dropped, “What?!”

Steve snorted from the couch, hiding a chuckle. “Guess you better not lose.  Here, hand me that controller.  Let’s do this.”

Carley passed the device to the sound engineer.  “What’s the criteria for being the ‘loser’?”

“Last place.”  Everyone answered at once.

“We’ve got enough people that we can run a custom match, no computer racers.” Steve added before looking at Carley.  “You playing?”

“I’ll need to watch a match first, I’m unsure of how to use this console.”  She glanced at the controller beside her.

“Okay, so first match is a practice run.  Then the stakes are added.”  David smiled, plopping down on the ground in front of the now full couches.  “Sit down, Spine.”

Bunny started scrolling through race track options. “No. No.  Played it earlier.  Wouldn’t be fair... Okay, here we go. The track through the valley is pretty good for a warm up. Players: select your character and kart.”

There was lots of fumbling and button pushing, after a moment everyone was ready. “You are going down Mike.” Steve said from his spot on the couch.

“Bring it.” Michael said, eyes glued to the race as the countdown started. Then they were off.

“Bunny, stop elbowing me!” David hissed.

“Well then move your skinny little butt; you’re in my arm’s way!”

“Ha! Passed you both!” Bryan gloated.

“And I’ve passed you!” Mike shouted, now standing as the race went on.

“Eat my dust, The Spine!” Rabbit shouted going past her brother in the video game.

“No, you eat my dust, Rabbit!” The Spine laughed, passing her via a shortcut in the game.

It was a close practice race, but Zero came in last place, less than 20 seconds separated first and last place. “Oooh, you better do better, Zero!” Rabbit teased.

Zero offered a sarcastic huff, playfully inspecting his controller.  “Darn…  Well, I won’t lose next time.” 

Steve turned to Carley.  “Got the idea, Doc?”

“I have enough of one.” She smiled, picking up her controller and selecting a character.  “I doubt I’ll win, but I also doubt I’ll be in last place.”

Bunny grinned.  “Okay, same track?”

A chorus of agreements sounded, and the race began, peppered by shouting, good-natured ribbing, and the occasional distressed outburst from someone who’d been hit by a hazard or weapon from another player.   By the time the race was ending, The Spine found himself solidly in first place, with a disgruntled Steve in last.

Until Rabbit and Zero shared a look behind The Spine’s back and nodded.  Rabbit went first, sending the blue shell she’d been hoarding since the first lap straight for The Spine’s character.

“No!  Rabbit!”  The Spine growled, finding himself having fallen back to the middle of the pack.  “That’s just mean.” 

Zero giggled, pulling his character around to be just in front of The Spine.  “Hey, The Spine.  You know what would really be awful?”

“What?”

“This.”  Zero smiled as he released his own weapon: an oil slick that sent The Spine’s character spiraling out of control as literally all of his friends and family passed him and the race ended, with Rabbit taking first place.

The Spine sat, dumbfounded, staring at the screen, trying to process what had just happened while the humans were already clearing a space on the floor.

“Now...hold on a second…” The Spine said, starting to back away from Rabbit. She had that gleam in her optics again, the one that always meant trouble.

“C-c-come on The Spine, you agreed t-t-to the race terms.” She was already wiggling her metal digits at him.

The Spine backed right into Zero, who grabbed his arms. “Come on, big brother, don’t ya wanna play fair?”

The Spine turned his head, about to reply, when Rabbit attacked the panel on his neck. Almost instantly The Spine was laughing and shaking in Zero’s arms and Rabbit gently tugged, twisted and rolled the wires between her fingers right inside his neck.

“Raaa...hahaha...bit! St...hahaha...op!” He begged, starting to steam.

“Awww, but I just got s-s-started.” Rabbit cooed, shooting Zero a glance.

The Spine felt his shirt being lifted and Zero’s fingers around his back maintenance hatch. “Zero...no, no, no, NO…” The Spine gasped out, squirming in an attempt to get away.

“This is for your own good, Th’Spine. “ Zero laughed, opening the panel.

“Go for the blue coiled wire.” David called out, giggling at his friend’s ticklish situation.

“David!! WHY?” The Spine shot his technician a look of mock betrayal before bursting out in another fit of laughter punctuated by a cloud of steam. “No! Zero, not...there! Hahaha!” The gears in his legs couldn’t take the sensory overload and The Spine half fell, was half lowered by Zero to the floor.

Rabbit stood over her brother menacingly. “Aww what’s the matter, The Spine? Worn out already? But that’s only t-t-two tickle spots and you have so many.”

She was gloating...distracted. The Spine took this moment to struggle out of Zero’s grip and make a break for the door. He was almost out of the door when Rabbit tackled him from behind. “Ah-ah-ah, The Spine, you can’t do that.” She teased, pulling him back into the living room by his ankles.

The Spine struggled on the floor, his fingers scrabbling for purchase. “Come on, Rabbit, let me up!”

“Nope! And, just for that: ALL HANDS! Group t-t-tickle The Spine!”

Suddenly metal and human fingers tickled all over The Spine as he steamed and laughed and wiggled and begged. Soon he couldn’t even form words. David stood over to the side, he was giggling but planned to step in soon. The Spine was losing a lot of steam.

“Does this tickle, Spine?” Bunny giggled, dragging her fingernails over a metal seam. The Spine shook with laughter.

“What about this?” Steve asked, pinching a wire gently between his fingers. The Spine actually squealed, making everyone in the room laugh.

“Or how about here?” Bryan asked, only for Bunny to give a surprise yelp and giggle. “Ooh sorry, Bunny, my hand slipped.”

Bunny narrowed her eyes playfully at the newest engineer. “Whoops, my hands slipped.” She said wiggling her fingers right into Bryan's stomach. He shrieked with laughter and backed up into Steve, knocking him into Chelsea and Michael.

“Just for that, Bryan…” Steve pulled away from The Spine and started tickling Bryan outright.  Bryan howled with laughter, stuttering out a call for ‘backup’ in between gasps for air.

It was Zero who came to his rescue, tickling the sound engineer under the arms.  And of course, Michael and the two Walter Workers dove in to save him from the tickling onslaught.

The Spine used the lull in the attacks on him to flip himself over and start tugging at his sister’s exposed wiring, making her screech and howl with laughter as steam erupted from her cheeks.  “Yeah? How’s that feel, Rabbit?!”  He teased, only for Bunny to go after his still open neck panel.

And so, the “tickle The Spine” plan devolved into a giant free-for-all tickle fight. David rubbed his arm, a little sad he couldn’t participate. Tickle fights were always in good fun….except that one time...David shook his head, pushing that thought from his mind. The laughter was beginning to die down to just residual giggles and gasps for air, and for as much as Rabbit loved to start tickle fights, she was always one of the first to go down, being the most ticklish ‘bot of the bunch.

The Spine stood, fixed his shirt and put his hat back on before moving over to where David stood holding out a bottle of water. “Here, you lost a lot of water.”

“Thank you.” The Spine drank the whole bottle and looked at David. “Are you alright?”

“I’m a little warm. “ He admitted, picking up some ice from the drink container and rubbing it on his neck. “Three laughing robots make a lot of steam.”

The Spine touched David’s forehead. He was warm but the ice on his neck seemed to be helping. “If you start feeling too hot…?

David nodded. “I’ll tell you. I promise.”

Carley cleared her throat softly, having avoided the whole mess by staying on the couch.  “Is everyone alright?”

Michael and Steve both offered her thumbs up while the rest of them chorused a few ‘yeahs’.  

“Hey!” Rabbit shouted, sitting upright and narrowing her eyes playfully at their newest addition. “Carley didn’t join in!”

She arched her eyebrows, scooting away from the advancing robot.  “I think I’m fine, Rabbit, thank you.”

Bryan sat up.  “Nope, if we all got tickled, so do you!”

“I really would much rather not…” She glanced around the room, noting the mischievous smirks on her companion’s faces.

“Hang on, guys.” David spoke up, putting his hand on Rabbit’s shoulders.  “Do you, uh...have the same thing as me?  The whole ‘no tickling’ thing?”

“Oh shit...” Steve winced, backing down almost instantly. He hadn’t thought of that and judging by the faces of those around, no one else had either.

Carley shifted. “Not...technically, but my laugh is….um.” She paused.  “I believe the term is obnoxious.”

“Pft.”  Bunny scoffed.  “So’s like...all of ours. It can’t be that bad.”

“Hey! I resemble that remark.”  Michael teased.

“Oh hush, Mike. You have the most normal laugh out of all of us.”  Steve rolled his eyes.

Carley bit her lip.  “Either way, physical contact is still a bit strange for me after so long being alone.  So, maybe in the future I’ll participate, but as for now, I’ll simply observe.”

“Works for me!” Rabbit shrugged, grabbing her controller and settling back down. “Which track is next?”

Everyone rushed back to their controllers, eager to race again and try and get the various ‘revenge’ ticklings on their assailants.  

The evening wore on, with at least everyone sans David and Carley getting tickled at least once (though Steve seemed to suffer the most).  The humans gorged themselves on pizza and as they played, but eventually people started excusing themselves to head to bed.  Bryan was first, with Zero following close behind. The Walter Workers were next, then Steve, then Bunny, with Rabbit in tow, Michael, and finally Carley, leaving only David and The Spine awake.

“Another race, Spine?” David asked, holding back a yawn. It was getting close to midnight.

“If you like.” The Spine replied. He wasn’t about to make the same mistakes again. Even though David really should be sleeping.

“How about Rainbow Road?” David said, clicking through the menu screen.

“Sounds good.”

Even as they raced The Spine kept one optic on David. He was tired, his game responses slowing down. The human had been up early to get him from the Hall of Wires...actually early than The Spine thought, after all he had packed a picnic basket for the two of them.

David was flat out yawning now and proceeded to come in dead last. “Oh shoot…” he mumbled softly. “These computer A.I. players are really good.”

The Spine picked his words carefully. “Could it just be...you’re tired?”

David shook his head. “Nah, wanna play again?”

“Sure.”

The Spine and David continued to race, The Spine never bringing up the fact David was in last place almost every race, until well after midnight. The clock in the corner struck 1am. “David, its 1am.” The Spine said quietly, making sure he did not hint that he wanted his human to go to bed.

David rubbed at his eyes. “Yeah…”

His technician was being strangely quiet. “Did something happen?” The Spine ventured. Had he done something wrong?

David finally put down the game controller. “I...had a nightmare last night...and I tried to handle it on my own since you were in the Hall of Wires and...It didn’t go as planned.”

“You could have come to me David.” The Spine said softly. Neither of them paying any attention to the game now.

“I should have...m’sorry.” David mumbled.

The Spine put his arm around the human pulling him into a hug. He felt David relax against his chassis. The thrum of his boiler acting like a soothing heartbeat. “I’m...kinda afraid to go back to bed.” David admitted so quietly that, if The Spine were human, he would not have heard a word.

“Would you...like me to stay with you?” The Spine hesitated to ask. He did not want David to feel smothered or babied.

“Please? And maybe sing me that song? You sang it to me, once before….” David’s eyes were starting to flutter closed. His body too exhausted to stay awake much longer.

The Spine was already humming, as he easily lifted David into his arms, carrying him towards his bedroom. David sighed contently and curled closer to The Spine's warm core. The mess in Living Room 3 could wait until later.

Right now, he had his best friend to care for.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that this story is a collaborative effort between myself and ClockworkCreation. As such, we will be unable to update every day as "New to the Collection" was. We're hoping for weekly updates. Please bear with us.
> 
> We hope you enjoy!


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